Texas Tiger TH3 by Patricia Rice Page A

two saints as he explained the same details a dozen times. Some grasped the idea quickly, grabbing their sacks and the first papers folded and running out the door. Others hung back, uncertain, waiting for understanding to dawn.
    As they understood that they were to charge two pennies for each paper and bring back one penny to buy more, they began to bounce in anticipation. Georgina watched as one small boy continually got pushed to the back in the jostling, shoving crowd. Swiping a carrier pouch and filling it with freshly folded newspapers, she leaned over the heads of several larger boys to hand it to the small one.
    His freckled face broke into a wide grin that revealed two missing front teeth. "Thankth, mith," and he was off.
    After that, Georgina joined in, leaving Daniel to return to his presses while she kept order in the folding process and saw that everyone was supplied with the same number of papers. As soon as the room cleared of one batch of carriers, the first ones started to return, their hands clutching dozens of grubby pennies.
    She didn't know how Daniel would make any money off the pittance that she carefully divided in half, returning one half to each boy along with a corresponding number of papers. Pennies didn't buy presses. Pennies wouldn't even buy paper. She hoped he knew what he was doing.
    There wasn't time to question. One of the presses stuck, and cursing, Daniel yelled for one of the boys to give him a hand. That left Georgina helping to fold papers as well as count cash and replenish pouches. Perspiration poured from her forehead, and she was in dire fear that the underarms of her gown were soaked, but no one seemed to notice. The boys just grinned and thanked her and ran out again.
    As the boys spread further into the city, their returns became less frequent. By midafternoon, there was a lull, and Georgina stood up to stretch her aching muscles. Daniel appeared from the back room, ink smeared from ear to ear but grinning happily.
    "They're out there, Miss Merry. We'll be the topic of discussion at every table tonight. Doesn't that make your toes tingle?"
    What was making her toes tingle was the expression of warmth and admiration and approval in his eyes. Georgina wasn't used to anyone looking at her like that. And the name he had given her made her somehow feel special, as if they shared a secret between them. Avoiding these thoughts, she glanced down at her ruined gown and tried to shake out some of the paper shreds.
    "I'm all a-tingle, Mr. Martin, but I suspect it's dust and fleas. Anticipating yelling and cursing does nothing but make me want to bury my head until it stops."
    His grin disappeared, and an expression of concern formed lines between his eyebrows. "We'd better get you home. I don't think it's a good idea to let anyone know you're involved with this at all."
    Georgina gasped as she remembered the time and Blucher waiting for her back in town. "What time is it? Blucher will think I got lost. They'll be sending out search parties. Oh, dear, I have to go." She looked around dazedly for her parasol and whatever accouterments had accompanied her.
    Daniel located the parasol in the rumpled covers of his bed, where the boys had been tussling, and Georgina found one of her gloves under his table. There was no sign of the other. There wasn't time to look. She hurried for the door, unaware that Daniel was following her until she reached the stairway.
    She turned and waved him away. "Go back to your presses. I can always go to my father and tell him I got lost. He'll believe that sooner than the truth."
    Daniel glanced down at her ink-stained skirt and up to her dust-smudged cheeks, and shook his head. "If you walk in like that, he'll be after heads, specifically mine. I think we'd better smuggle you into the house and let you clean up before you go telling any stories. How good are you at lying?"
    Georgina gave a radiant smile. "Not very."
    "Good." Not explaining that reply, Daniel caught