Page:The strange experiences of Tina Malone.djvu/22

22 So when Saturday arrived I hunted up a gay little ribbon, tied it to my latch-key and went down to her.

"There you are," I said.

I held the ribbon over her head like a necklace and dropped it and kissed her cheek with a laugh.

She started as I held it up as if she did not know what I was going to do.

"Wear it there just as I do," I said, turning to her as I hurried to the door.

"Now I'm safe," she said.

There was a curious look on her face as she said it—something mysterious that I could not understand.

Safe! Why "safe?" I wondered, and I thought of a hunted thing.

I ran off to my work, happy in the thought of having her even closer at hand and someone to meet me right at home when I came back.

IT was a "toss up" as to whether the people would come or not. Naomi did not seem to be very hopeful. She had had to launch out in supplying sheets and cutlery, and the idea that this may have been for nothing made her worry.

It was quite late when they did come and we had to play the good Samaritan and supply them with tea and candles and things they could not buy on Saturday night.

"I'm going to see if they are all comfortable, Naomi," I said in the morning. "Shall I?" for she did not seem to think it the least bit necessary.

"Yes, dear, if you like. You would perhaps know better than I would what they want."

I ran down and found the old lady ready for a chat and quite comfortable and satisfied with her new lodgings. Her husband had been suffering from heart and was glad to find a resting place in a flat of his own for a week for he had been travelling and staying in hotels.

So the linen and cutlery were not for nothing after all. They were going to pay well and Naomi's worries were at rest.

"What's the matter?" I said to her one day.

She had been downstairs in answer to a note from Mrs. Smith.