Page:The Cannery Boat.pdf/223

Rh Two girls tripped over the rails in their haste and fell.

“Oh, you bad boy!”

But, just as he had gauged it, the truck pulled up withingwithin [sic] a hair’s breadth of them.

The girls picked themselves up and began stammering something, but the boy cut them short.

“You oughta look out, you fools,” he thundered, but there was a twinkle in his eyes; the girls, who resented being put in the wrong, flushed with anger.

“What a dirty trick to play, you red-nosed”

To be called “red-nose” was a sore point with the boy, and the girl who said it knew this very well. She had her hair done in Japanese style, and wore the red badge of a member of the works council.

“Just look there, you’ve made it all bleed.” One plump dumpling hauled herself up and, pulling up her apron and kimono, stuck out her leg and displayed her scraped knee to the boy.

“This fellow, he’s always playing some trick like this.”

“You red-nosed country lout!”

The girls, brave because of their numbers, surrounded the boy.

“You dog-gone”

One big, round-eyed girl stole round to the back and gave the boy a clout on the head with the end of the rope.

“Ow! Ow! That hurts!” He let out a loud yell and rubbed his head with his rough hands, but, realizing that he had gone a bit too far in his teasing, started grinning at them sheepishly.