n he caught hold of Lily and lifted her like a feather--Lily,
all taken aback, had not time to say "Oof!" so great was her surprise--and
Jimmy crossed the whole stage with Lily in his arms, shouting to the
manager:

"Look what a dear little baby I've found! Isn't she sweet, eh?"

And then, in the wings, he gave her a good big kiss on the cheek before
putting her down.

The people around them laughed, applauded that stage joke:

"Jimmy, her old friend," they said, "knew her when she was that high."

Lily was very proud of it. And, a few minutes after, when he had left her
to take a seat in front, Lily jumped into the saddle and rode round and
round, without a hitch, smiling to the audience, smiling to Jimmy in a
front box, Jimmy to whom she was grateful for coming to see her: a famous
bill-topper putting himself out for her ... before everybody! She was
faultless that evening, did a dozen twirls on the back-wheel, made a
record, was grand.

Trampy, meanwhile, was waiting for Lily outside, in the passage leading to
the stage-door. He had not seen Jimmy kiss Lily, but he saw him carry her
across the stage, just as he was coming on himself, so he had turned and
hurried out to avoid scandal ... giving way to his wife, who worked while
he did not. He had gone out at once, time to run to the bar and drown two
or three sorrows, and he was waiting for her now, without paying any
attention to the girls passing. As soon as he saw Lily, he seized her by
the arm:

"I've had enough of this," he said. "I saw you, you and your Jimmy! You
can't deny it this time!"

"Oh, Trampy, don't insult me like that!" protested Lily. "Why do you
always say 'my' Jimmy? One can have a laugh and a joke on the stage
without meaning wrong, you know one can. Besides, if you didn't like to
see him carry me in his arms, you ought to have smashed his face, without
so much talk."

"I didn't want to make a fuss."

"You were afraid to. You're afraid of him, that's what you are!"

"Stop jeering at me!" said Trampy, shaking her violently. "You're dragging
me in the mud; it's like those whippings of yours! I'm tired of the
affronts you put upon me! You ought to have married your Jimmy and left me
in peace."

"I can't say," sneered Lily, "that I remember running after you!"

"That Jimmy!" repeated Trampy. "I'll kill that fellow like a dog! If I
don't do it now, I will later, in a year, in a hundred years, if
necessary. I'll kill him like a dog!"