Page:Delight - de la Roche - 1926.djvu/69

 "Good geerl," he said. "If you had as many ears as a field of corn I'd pierce them for you."

"Oh, thank you," Delight said, looking up at him with wet eyes. "I can wear my earrings now, and you won't tell a soul, will you?"

"Now, do I look like a man that would go about telling secrets? Sykes is the one to watch, though considering the booby's pairt he played, I expect he'll hold his tongue."

"It was just that he was so tender."

"Well, a tender man's no good to you. How are you going to hide those ears, now?"

"My hair's so thick I can just pull it a bit farther over them."

"I hear Lovering going down. I must get after him. You're not going to stop here all nicht, are you?"

"Don't you be insultin' to me, Mr. Kirke."

"No, you'd better not," said Jimmy. "I may be chicken-hearted where a girl's concerned, but I've yet to see the man I'm afraid of."

Kirke broke into hoots of metallic laughter and hurried down the passage after Lovering.

"Isn't he a beast?" said Delight. "Never mind, I like you far the best of anyone here. I like you even more because you didn't want to hurt me."

Jimmy put his arm tenderly about her. "I'd do anything for you, Delight. Only give me a chance. Can't you think of anything I could do for you? Isn't there anything? How much is it?"

Delight hung her head. "There's one thing," she whispered, "that's troubling me sorely, and that's the money for the earrings. They're not paid for yet, and I've been wondering all day who I can find to borrow the money from."