“Did you say ‘pooh!’ sir?” demanded Sam, with a terrible frown.
“I did, sir,” replied the old gentleman, with a contemptuous smile.
“Then, sir, take that.”
Sam hurled a wine decanter at the old gentleman, which, missing its mark, fell with a loud crash at the feet of Robin, who awoke with a start to find Sam shaking him by the arm.
“Wake up, Robin,” he said; “man, you’ve lost the best speech of the evening. Come—come on deck now, you’ve had quite enough of it.”
“Yes, an’ done enough o’ damage too,” growled the lugubrious waiter.
So Robin became gradually aware that Sam’s speech was a mere fancy, while the smashing of the soup tureen was a hard fact.
It may not, however, be out of place to remark here that the prophecy made by Sam in Robin’s dream, did afterwards become a great reality.