Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/200

 the tip-tilted nose sank into a seat opposite him. As before, all his attention seemed centered on the viands before him.

"Ain't it crool, the way most men'll furget a soul-mate?" murmured Sadie.

Wallaby Sam reached for his glass of Chablis, took a sip from it and put it down on the table again. Then he looked up at Sadie, blinking at her with impassive and only mildly querulous eyes. Then he gave all his attention to the plate beside him.

"And me tryin' to ketch your eye for the last half-hour!" lamented the slighted Sadie.

"So I noticed," the blithe old robin calmly announced.

This, for a moment, seemed to dampen the effusive young lady's ardor. But it was only for a moment.

"What's the reason for the frost?" she determinedly inquired.

"I don't get bit twice by the same snake!" quietly averred the rosy-cheeked old gentleman, as he stabbed his heart of lettuce to the core. Then he cut it, crisscross, with much vigor.

"I guess I'm the party that's gotta kick comin'