There was no immediate response and he pulled again; without waiting for an answer, he dropped into the ever-convenient hammock stretched beside the door and swung back and forth luxuriously. Unconsciously, and for the same reason that a bird sings--because it is carelessly oblivious of anything save the happiness of the moment--he began whistling softly to himself: without definite time or metre, subconsciously improvising. Perhaps a dozen times he swung back and forth; then the whistling ceased. "Anything doing at this restaurant this afternoon, Elice?" he plunged without preface. An expansive smile made up for the lack of conventional greeting. "I'm as hungry as those little wrens I hear cheeping up there somewhere." The smile was contagious and the girl returned it unconsciously. "I believe you're always hungry, Steve Armstrong," she commented. "I know it. I was born that way." "And you never grew up." "Physically, yes, unfortunately. Otherwise--I'm fighting to the last ditch. I believe about three of those cookies you make--and, by the way, they're much better than mother used to manufacture--will fill the void. Don't you hear that cheeping?" The girl hesitated, disappeared, and returned. "Thank you, Elice. Sit down over there, please, where I can see you. It makes them taste better. That's right. Thank you, again. I'm going to pay my bill now by telling you your fortune. You're going to make a great cook." "I wonder," said the girl, enigmatically. "There's no question about it. And for good measure I'm going to retail the latest gossip. What, by the way and as a preliminary, do you suppose I've been doing all day?" "It's vacation. Fishing, I presume." "Stung! I did go fishing this morning--four o'clock, caught one too; but it was so small and innocent looking that I apologized and threw it back. That wasn't what I referred to, however. You'll have to guess again." "I haven't the slightest idea." "I'm compelled to assist you then. I've been helping the Randalls settle. Harry 'phoned me early this morning and wanted to know if I didn't desire to be useful; said he would exchange compliments sometime." A significant pause, then a reminiscent sigh. "Every vertebra in my spinal column aches with an individual and peculiar pain." "They're really settled at last, are they?" inquired the girl, interestedly. "I can hardly wait to see how things look." "I don't blame you for being curious, Elice," sympathized Armstrong. "I felt a bit the same way myself." A rueful grin. "Merely among ourselves, however, and as a word of advice between friends, you'd better curb your impatience for about a week longer." "And why? You're darkly mysterious, as usual."