Page:Dave Porter on Cave Island.djvu/38

26 for he wanted to get Dave's mind off of his troubles.

"Nothing but an elephant for mine," answered Dave, with a forced laugh. "I don't want to waste my powder."

"As the society belle said when she left the mark of her cheek on the gent's shoulder," remarked Buster Beggs, the fat lad of the group.

"Say, that puts me in mind of another story," came from Shadow. "Once on a time a Dutchman heard that a certain lady was a society belle. He wanted to tell his friend about it, but he couldn't think of the right word. 'Ach, she is von great lady,' he said. 'She is a society ding-dong!

"Wow!"

"There's a ringer for Shadow!"

"Shadow, you want to frame that joke and hang it in the woodshed."

"Put it down in moth-balls until next summer, Shadow."

"Oh, say, speaking about moth-balls puts me in mind of another story. A man"

"Was it a young man, Shadow?" asked Dave, calmly.

"Maybe it was a very old man," suggested Phil.

"Was he clean-shaven or did he have a beard?" queried Roger.