“Under the bridge with Loo-ou! Under the bridge with Loo-ou!”
Another boy, growing bolder, added a further taunt.
“Wait till Snake hears ’bout it! He’ll hop onto ye! Yah!”
“Yah! Under the bridge with Loo-ou!” piped the chorus.
The man’s teeth clenched on the pipe-stem, but he kept smiling.
“Hadn’t you better be sure you’re right before you start tattling tales? What do you think Snake’ll do to you when he finds out you lied to him? And what do you think I’ll do?”
The sudden hush and scared glances around showed that the shot struck home. None wanted to incur the wrath of Snake Sanders. But the girl who had spied the hidden pair—a gangling creature with eyes too close together—snapped back at him.
“’Tain’t no lie! We seen ye—me and Billy!”
“Saw me, yes. But there’s no woman under that bridge. Why do you yell out that there is? First thing you know you’ll get yourself into trouble.”
Another hush. The youngsters began scowling at the pair who had screamed the news.