Mason said, “That would be swell.”
The waitress appeared with large bowls of steaming soup, and Mason, folding the menu so she couldn’t see the name on the back, shoved it down into his pocket.
They ate hurriedly and for the most part in silence.
When they had finished, Drake said, “Gosh, Perry, I don’t know why any man would want to get married when restaurants serve meals like this.”
“ You wouldn’t,” Della Street said.
“Ouch!” Drake observed, laughing.
Mason called the waitress, handed her a bill, and said, “Bring the gentleman over there half a dozen packages of gum.”
“What flavor?” she asked.
“Spearmint,” Drake said.
“What brand?”