"Ye'd be so ashamed o' me, ye would!"
"No, Peg, I'd be proud of you. I love you!"
Peg, unable to argue or plead, or strive against what her heart yearned for the most, broke down and sobbed as she murmured:
"I love you, too, Mister Jerry."
In a moment she was in his arms.
It was the first time anyone had touched her tenderly besides her father. All her sturdy, boyish ruggedness shrank from any display of affection. Just for a moment it did now. Then she slowly yielded herself.
But Jerry stroked her hair, and looked into her eyes and smiled down at her lovingly, as he asked:
"What will your father say?"
She looked happily up at him and answered:
"Do you know one of the first things me father taught me when I was just a little child?"