Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. I, 1889.djvu/199

 "Say! have you seen Clem again?"

"No," replied the girl, examining him with sudden acuteness. "What about her?"

"Nothing much. She's got her back up a bit, that's all."

"About me?" Pennyloaf asked anxiously.

Bob nodded. As he was making some further remarks on the subject, a man's figure appeared at a little distance, and almost immediately withdrew again round a winding of the Passage. A moment after there sounded from that direction a shrill whistle. Bob and the girl regarded each other.

"Who was that?" said the former suspiciously. "I half believe it was Jeck Bartley. If Jeck is up to any of his larks, I'll make him remember it. You wait here a minute!"

He walked at a sharp pace towards the suspected quarter. Scarcely had he gone half a dozen yards, when there came running from the other end of the Passage a girl whom Pennyloaf at once recognised. It was Clem Peckover; with some friend's assistance she