"Come out a minit while I tells yeh." The woman nodded slightly at Maggie and the mere boy, "'Scuse me." The mere boy interrupted his loving smile and turned a shrivelling glare upon Pete.

His boyish countenance flushed and he spoke, in a whine, to the woman: "Oh, I say, Nellie, this ain't a square deal, you know.

You aren't goin' to leave me and go off with that duffer, are you?
I should think--" "Why, you dear boy, of course I'm not," cried the woman, affectionately.

She bended over and whispered in his ear.

He smiled again and settled in his chair as if resolved to wait patiently.
As the woman walked down between the rows of tables, Pete was at her shoulder talking earnestly, apparently in explanation.