She was quick to answer in equally bad doggerel:
“No! nor does the lovely maiden
Of the Tshoti-non-da-waga——”
She stopped for a moment to get the next lines smooth, and then went on swiftly:
“Roll her eyes or fall in love with
Every thing that struts in trousers.”
“Good shot!” he cried. “Hey, Walter!” Walter had lunged along after Richard. He seemed to enjoy being present, so long as he was not bothered. “Hey, Walter, what do you think of that for poetry? It’s enough to make old Ralph Waldo Longfellow turn over with envy.”
“Huh!” Walter sniffed in a very, very knowing way. “You’re all right—you two!”
There was something almost sinister in his look. He had sized them up, it said.
“What do you mean?” Geraldine began to flame again.