Page:Spider Boy (1928).pdf/35

 stranger had entered the room and now hovered directly over the table.

I wish you'd change your mind and play a sociable game, he suggested.

I'm just playing to pass the time, Ambrose stammered, realizing instantly that this was no adequate explanation for his conduct and wondering how he could ever rid himself of this interloper.

As if in direct defiance of this unexpressed wish, the man lifted the basket of fruit and set it on the floor, then lounged into the seat opposite Ambrose who nervously proceeded to deal out cards, playing his game in silence. At last, apparently, he could make no more moves.

You've got an empty space for that king, his unwelcome companion intimated.

Ambrose blushingly thanked him and played the card, but the paste-board that turned up under the king offering him no further opportunity, he swept the cards together with so much violence that two or three fluttered to the floor and he was obliged to stoop to pick them up.

Are you from New York? the stranger inquired.

Yes, Ambrose replied, as he guiltily shuffled the cards, preparatory to laying them out anew. He