* * * * * * *
Silence.
"Sauce Pan!" one of the Kitchen People near him whispered loudly, "Sauce Pan! Why don't you speak?"
"Don't bother me. I'm asleep," muttered Sauce Pan drowsily, "sound asleep!"
Mary Frances gasped.
"What 'n awful story!" exclaimed the one who had first spoken.
"You're not very polite to question my word to my very face," Sauce Pan retorted angrily. "Now, if someone else had told you, that would have been different; then you'd had some excuse."