"If I did I might not get an invitation. So I'm going to invite myself, and then I'm going to invite you in here to have an ice cream soda," and he and Miss Nestor were soon seated at a table in a candy shop.
Tom had nearly finished his ice cream when he glanced toward the door, and started at the sight of a man who was entering the place.
"What's the matter?" asked Mary. "Did you drop some ice cream, Tom?"
"No, Mary. But that man—"
Mary turned in time to see an excited man hurry out of the candy shop after a hasty glance at Tom Swift.
"Who was he?" the girl asked.
"I—er—oh, some one I thought I knew, but I guess I don't," said Tom, quickly. "Have some more cream, Mary?"
"No, thank you. Not now."
Tom was glad she did not care for any, as he was anxious to get outside, and have a look at the man, for he thought he had recognized the face as the same that had peered in his window. But when he and Miss Nestor reached the front of the shop the strange man was not in sight.
"I guess he came in to cool off after his run," mused Tom, "but when he saw me he didn't care about it. I wonder if that was Waddington? He's a persistent individual if it was he."