“Lookit!” I pointed. “Here comes a girl around the corner of the house. She’s heading this way. Let’s pump her.”
Scoop saw a chance to have some fun.
“We’ll let Red talk to her. For he’s the best lady-killer in the gang.”
His engine having stopped for some reason or other, the engineer had gone to work on it.
“What’s that?” he inquired, lifting a greasy face.
“Wipe off your chin and pull down your vest,” grinned Scoop. “For we’re going to have company.” [[79]]
Red let out his neck at the approaching girl.
“Aw!… You think you’re smart,” he scowled.
The girl came to the dock and regarded us with amused eyes. She wasn’t quite as old as we were, probably not more than twelve. She wore a blue tam, which, as you may know, is a sort of cloth hat with a tassel on top. Her dress was blue, too, the color of her eyes.
In his interest in the engine, Red had forgotten all about the approaching girl.