The three boys looked at the men resentfully and one of them said something under his breath, but the girl said, "Button it." Then she asked the men opposite, "Lookin' for someone, mister?"
The two men looked away, and this made the boys feel brave. One of them said, "Let's give 'em the works."
"No, leave it to me." The girl got up and went across to the two men. "Me and my friends was wondering. Maybe you gentlemen would like to come to a trake in the gort later?"
The three boys snickered and the men looked up at the girl and waited with blank faces.
"Or maybe you'd rather we put on a hanse for you?" she said.
"No, sit down," one of the men—the bigger one—said, and moved back to make room for her. She glanced at him with surprise for a moment and sat down next to him.
One of the boys started to get up when he saw this, but the others pulled him down again.
"What did you say to us just now?" the big man asked. "It was too small in here."
She shook her head and frowned. "Why, that was just ... I said did you want for us to put on a hanse, is all." She had a rather feeble grin.
"Yes," the big man said. "We do."