"Pretty well, thank you. How's yourself?"
"Sadie, let me introduce you to a friend of mine. Miss Martin, Mr. Campbell."
Miss Martin straightway offered her hand, and Checkers shook it cordially.
"Let's go and sit where we can see the moon—it's perfectly beautiful to-night," said Pert. "Arthur, get two chairs from the porch, and bring them over by the hammock."
Arthur went to fulfill his mission while Checkers walked between the young ladies.
Suddenly he skipped nimbly forward. "Excuse me while I climb a tree," he exclaimed, with a comical intonation. "There comes Lion and Tige, and I 'm afraid it's another horrible case of 'They're After Me.'"
"Oh, they won't touch you while you 're with us," laughed Sadie. "Here Lion, here Tige, good dogs."
"Well then, I think I 'd better establish my popularity with them both right now," said Checkers; and with an air of confidence he kindly patted and rubbed their heads in a way that dogs love, and made them his friends.
Meanwhile Arthur arrived with the chairs. Sadie seated herself in one of them, and motioning Checkers to place the other beside her, left the hammock to Pert and Arthur.
"Did you have a good time in St. Louis, girls?" asked Arthur.