erior to him. A wave of
arrogance swept her. Because he was a man, and therefore so delectable
in the lives of two lonely girls, he was basely sure of his power to
choose from among them at will. He had no such power at that moment, in
Jenny's mind. He was the clay, for Emmy or herself to mould to their own
advantage.

"You can think yourself _jolly_ lucky; my lad!" she repeated. "I can
tell you that much!"

ii

Jenny leant back in her chair exhausted by her excitement. Alf reached
round for the chair he had left, and brought it to the table. He sat
down, his elbows on the table and his hands clasped; and he looked
directly at Jenny as though he were determined to explode this false
bubble of misunderstanding which she was sedulously creating. As he
looked at her, with his face made keen by the strength of his resolve,
Jenny felt her heart turn to water. She was physically afraid of him,
not because he had any power to move her, but because in sheer
bullock-like strength he was too much for her, as in tenacity he had
equally an advantage. As a skirmisher, or in guerrilla warfare, in which
he might always retire to a hidden fastness, baffling pursuers by
innumerable ruses and doublings, Jenny could hold her own. On the plain,
in face of superior strength, she had not the solid force needed to
resist strong will and clear issues. Alf looked steadily at her, his
reddish cheeks more red, his obstinate mouth more obstinate, so that she
could imagine the bones of his jaws cracking with his determination.

"It won't do, Jen," he said. "And you know it."

Jenny wavered. Her eyes flinched from the necessary task of facing him
down. Where women of more breeding have immeasurable resources of
tradition behind them, to quell any such inquisition, she was by
training defenceless. She had plenty of pluck, plenty of adroitness; but
she could only play the sex game with Alf very crudely because he was
not fine enough to be diverted by such finesse as she could employ. All
Jenny could do was to play for safety in the passage of time. If she
could beat him off until Emmy returned she could be safe for to-night;
and if she were safe now--anything might happen another day to bring
about her liberation.

"Bullying won't do. I grant that," she retorted defiantly. "You needn't
think it will." She jerked her head.

"We're going to have this out," Alf went on. Jenny darted a look of
entreaty at the kicking clock which lay so helpless