He held out his hand to her. He understood the defiance and replied to it
with characteristic directness.
"Guess you thought me a rough sort of animal when we met in the paddock
this afternoon," he said. "I'm sorry. It was Bunny I was up against--not
you."
"Not me?" said Toby, her wide eyes lifted quite openly to his. "Sure?"
He pinched the slim young hand without ceremony. Somehow she took him by
storm--this girl with the open brow and curiously pathetic face. "Well,
not so much you," he said. "Bunny knows that gambling on a big scale is
against the law for children of his age."
"Oh, I see," said Toby. She smiled and slipped her hand free. "Well, I'm
years older than he is, so that doesn't apply to me. Bunny wasn't doing
any gambling either."
"I gathered that," said Jake.
She stopped and lifted Molly the second child, partially veiling her own
face with the little girl's soft curls. "Then you are up against me," she
said.
"No, I'm not," Jake's voice held a queer, compassionate note. "We won't
quarrel till we know each other better anyway. I see you're pretty
intimate with the youngsters already."
"Oh, that's easy, isn't it?" said Toby. "Babies always take you at your
face value.
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