Jack looked at her kindly. "All right, Rosie. You go on in and I'll be in in a minute."
The dismissal was so friendly that Rosie could not gainsay it. She hurried around to the back door and then rushed through the house to the front door, which she slipped open wide enough to see and to hear what was going on at the gate. Joe Slattery's voice carried distinctly.
"Say, Jack, what do you say to goin' down now? Aw, come on! Let's."
Rosie did not have to ask herself what Joe Slattery was proposing; she knew only too well. Breathless, she awaited Jack's answer. It came with scarcely an instant's hesitation.
Jack was out of the gate and off before Rosie could push open the front door.
"Jackie! Jackie! Where you going? Wait for Rosie!"
"Me and Joe got to go down and see a fella. We'll be back soon, won't we, Joe?"
"Sure we will, Rosie. We'll be back in ten minutes."
Rosie shook her head reproachfully. "Jackie, Jackie, you're telling Rosie a story, you know you are! You're going swimming and you promised me you wouldn't! Oh, Jackie, how can you, after the nickel I gave you this morning, and the seven cents yesterday, and the nickel the day before, and the nickel of the first day you went with Joe? Oh, Jackie, how can you take poor Rosie's money and then act that way?"