Or maybe the public will pass the hat around and buy a string to tie on to me, so I can't get too far away.

Then they can take turns holding the string and pull me down when they think I've been up long enough! Darned boobs--what did they want to get up searching parties for?
Couldn't they find anything else to do, for gosh sake ?" "Why, Johnny Jewel!" Righteous indignation brought Mary V to her feet, trembling a little but with the undaunted spirit of her fighting forebears shining in her eyes.

"Johnny Jewel, you silly, ungrateful boy! What if you had been hurt somewhere?
You'd have been glad enough then for the public to take some interest in you, I guess!" "Well, but I wasn't hurt," Johnny reiterated with his mouth set stubbornly.

"They had to go and worry the life outa you, Mary V--that's what I'm kicking about.

They--" Mary V gazed at him strangely.