like a
concertina, across the ceiling. This was the finishing touch, and lent
an air of gaiety to the room.

For two hours past Ada and Pinkey had been decorating one another in
the bedroom. When they emerged, Mrs Yabsley cried out in admiration,
not recognizing her own daughter for the moment. Their white dresses,
freshly starched and ironed by her, rustled stiffly at every movement
of their bodies, and they walked daintily as if they were treading on
eggs. Both had gone to bed with their hair screwed in curling-pins,
losing half their sleep with pain and discomfort, but the result
justified the sacrifice. Ada's hair, dark and lifeless in colour,
decreased the sullen heaviness of her features; Pinkey's, worn up for
the first time, was a barbaric crown, shot with rays of copper and gold
as it caught the light.

"Yous put the kettle on, an' git the tea, an' I'll be ready in no
time," said Mrs Yabsley. "W'en I was your age, I used ter take 'arf a
day ter doll meself up, an' then git down the street with a brass band
playin' inside me silly 'ead; but now, gimme somethin' new, if it's
only a bit o' ribbon in me 'at, an' I feel dressed up ter the knocker."

At seven o'clock Jonah and Chook arrived. They were dressed in the
height of larrikin fashion--tight-fitting suits of dark cloth, soft
black felt hats, and soft white shirts with new black mufflers round
their necks in place of collars--for the larrikin taste in dress runs
to a surprising neatness. But their boots were remarkable, fitting
like a glove, with high heels and a wonderful ornament of perforated
toe-caps and brass eyelet-holes on the uppers.

Mrs Yabsley, moved by the solemn occasion, formally introduced Chook
and Pinkey. They stared awkwardly, not knowing what to say. In a
flash, Chook remembered her as the red-haired girl whom he had chiacked
at the corner. As he stared at her in surprise, the impudence died out
of his face, and he thought with regret of his ferocious jest and her
stinging reply. Pinkey grew uneasy under his eyes. Again the curious
pink flush coloured her cheeks, and she turned her head with a light,
scornful toss. That settled Chook. In five minutes he was looking at
her with the passionate adoration of a savage before an idol, for this
Lothario of the gutter brought to each fresh experience a surprising
virginity of emotion that his facile, ignoble conquests left untouched.
Jonah broke the silence by complimenting the ladie