Huddlestone’swascertainlynoordinarycharacter；hehadreadandobservedforhimself；hisgiftsweresound；and，thoughIcouldneverhavelearnedtolovetheman，Ibegantounderstandhissuccessinbusiness，andthegreatrespectinwhichhehadbeenheldbeforehisfailure。Hehad，aboveall，thetalentofsociety；
andthoughIneverheardhimspeakbutonthisoneandmostunfavorableoccasion，IsethimdownamongthemostbrilliantconversationalistsIevermet。
Hewasrelatingwithgreatgusto，andseeminglynofeelingofshame，themaneuversofascoundrellycommissionmerchantwhomhehadknownandstudiedinhisyouth，andwewerealllisteningwithanoddmixtureofmirthandembarrassment，whenourlittlepartywasbroughtabruptlytoanendinthemoststartlingmanner。
AnoiselikethatofawetfingeronthewindowpaneinterruptedMr。Huddlestone’stale；andinaninstantwewereallfouraswhiteaspaper，andsattongue-tiedandmotionlessroundthetable。
“Asnail，“Isaidatlast；forIhadheardthattheseanimalsmakeanoisesomewhatsimilarincharacter。