She was determined that he should not sleep in
there with Ole Fred, who was celebrating a great win at poker.
Louis stood at his own door.
"What are you going in there for?" he asked.
"I'm fetching poor little Jimmy. He's terrified of Ole Fred. He calls
him the Beast. I think it's disgusting that he and the red-haired man
sleep in here with a little boy."
He nodded and smiled at her, but Jimmy was not in the cabin at all. As
she came out Ole Fred came along the alley-way. He leered at her but did
not speak. She hurried into her own cabin, shut the door and pushed the
bolt along instinctively. As she switched on the light she saw a very
small amount of exceedingly dirty water in her basin, and Jimmy's neat
pile of tiny clothes folded on the floor. He was fast asleep in the
lower bunk.
She started to undress in a golden glow of romance, and realized that,
as her clothes came off, her armour was going to stay on, waking and
sleeping, visible only to herself. Then she thought of a small, trivial
thing. She tapped on the partition.
"Are you hungry?" she called quietly.
"Frightfully."
"Go and talk to Knollys. He's very nice. He'll find something for you."
"N-no. I c-can't," he stammered, frightened immediately.
"Then I shall," she said, and, slipping on her dressing-gown, went along
to the saloon.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180