her soft caressing hands, came to him
in the passionate caress of her scarlet mouth, love cradled him in the
clasp of her white arms. And the sun, peeping down inquisitively through
the leaves, showed all the beauty of her and made a rippling splendour
of her hair.

But now the woodpecker began a tap-tapping soft and insistent somewhere
out of sight, a small noise yet disturbing, that followed them
wheresoever they went. Thus they wandered, close entwined, but ever the
wood grew darker until they came at last to a mighty tree whose sombre,
far-flung branches shut out the kindly sun. And lo! within this gloom
the woodpecker was before them--a most persistent bird, this,
tap-tapping louder than ever, whereat Hermione, seized of sudden terror,
struggled in his embrace and, pointing upward, cried aloud, and was gone
from him. Then, looking where she had pointed, he beheld no woodpecker,
but the hated face of Bud M'Ginnis--

Ravenslee blinked drowsily at the wall where purple roses bloomed, at
the fly-blown text in the tarnished frame with its notable legend:

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

and sighed. But in his waking ears was the tap of the woodpecker, loud
and persistent as ever! Wherefore he started, stared, sat up suddenly
and, glancing toward the window, beheld a large cap and a pair of
shoulders he thought he recognised.

"Why, Spider!" he exclaimed, "what the--"

"Sufferin' Mike!" sighed the Spider plaintively, "here I've been
knockin' at your all-fired winder--knockin' an' knockin', an' here
you've been snorin' and snorin'."

"No, did I snore, Spider?"

"Bo, you sure are a bird for snorin'."

"Damn it!" said Ravenslee, frowning, "I must break myself of it."

"Thinkin' of gettin' married, bo?"

"Married? What the--"

"She'll soon get useter it, I guess--they all do!" said the unabashed
Spider. "Anyway, if you didn't snore exactly, you sure had a strangle
hold on the snooze business, all right. Here's me crawled out o' me
downy little cot t' put ye wise t' Bud's little game, an' here's you
diggin' into the feathers t' beat th' band!"

"But the window was open; why didn't you come in right away?"

"Not much, bo, I ain't the kind o' fool as makes a habit o' wakin' your
kind out o' their beauty sleep sudden, no more I ain't a guy as takes
liberties in strange bedrooms, see?"

"Well, come in, Spider--sit on the bed; I haven't a chair to offer. By
the way, I have to thank you--"

"Whaffor?"

"Breaking that wind