“Can’t we do something for him, Peg?” pleaded Jinnie.
Peg knelt down and examined the animal as it lay on the floor. She would not have admitted for anything that she was disturbed because of Jinnie’s fall. She only said:
“’Twasn’t your fault, miss, that you ain’t almost dead yourself.... I’ll get a dish with some water.... You need it as much as the cat.”
It was Bobbie who brought from Peggy a fierce ejaculation. He was standing in the middle of the floor with fluttering hands, a woebegone expression on his upturned face.
“My stars’re goin’ out,” he whimpered. “I want to touch my Jinnie.”
“She ain’t hurt much, kid,” said Peg, hoarsely. “Don’t be shakin’ like a leaf, Bobbie! You’d think the girl was dead.”
Jinnie called the boy to her.
“I’m here, honey,” she soothed him, “and I’m all right. I got a little whack on the ground, that’s all.... There, don’t cry, dearie.”
Peg looked down on them frowningly.
“You’re both of you little fools,” she muttered. “Get out of my way till I go to the kitchen, or I’ll kick you out.”