Cassidy the policeman,with the slow,leaden step of a man who is going nowhere,stopped for a moment in front of the hotel,and examined the street with a suspicious eye.He saw nothing but some groups of young men leaning against the veranda-posts at the opposite corner.They smoked and spat,tranquilly discussing the horses and betting for the next Cup meeting.Satisfied that the Road was quiet,he moved off,dragging his feet as if they weighed a ton.At once a sinister excitement passed through the groups.
"That was Cassidy,now we shan't be long."
"Wot price Jonah givin'us the slip?"
"'Ow'll Chook perform,if 'e ain't at Ada's?"It was the Push,who had run their man to earth at the Angel,where he was drinking in the bar,alone.Chook had posted them with the instinct of a general,and then left in hurried search of Jonah.And they watched the swinging doors of the hotel with cruel eyes,their nerves already vibrating with the ancestral desire to kill,the wild beast within them licking his lips at the thought of the coming feast.
Meanwhile,in Cardigan Street,Chook was arguing with Jonah.When told that the Push was waiting for him,he had listened without interest;the matter seemed foreign and remote.The velvety touch of his son's frail body still thrilled his nerves;its sweet,delicate odour was still in his nostrils.And he flatly refused to go.Chook was beside himself with excitement;tears stood in his eyes.
"W'y,y'ain't goin'ter turn dawg on me,Jonah,are yer?""No bleedin'fear,"said Jonah;"but I feel--I dunno 'ow I feel.The blasted kid knocked me endways,"he explained,in confusion.
As he looked down the street,he caught sight of Mrs Yabsley on the other side.She walked slowly on account of the hill,gasping for air,the weekly load of meat and groceries clutched in her powerful arms.His eyes softened with tenderness.He felt a sudden kinship for this huge,ungainly woman.He wanted to run and meet her,and claim the sweet,straight-limbed child that he had just discovered.Chook,standing at his elbow,like the devil in the old prints,was watching him curiously.