Andthenextmomentsherememberedhehadprobablygoneaboardlikeherselfinaboat。Inthatcaseshemightaswellseethehouseboat，andshepushedopenthedoorandsteppedin。Underthetable，wherehelaysmotheredwithdust，Gideon’sheartstoodstill。
ThereweretheremainsofJimson’slunch。’Helikesrathernicethingstoeat，’shethought。’O，Iamsureheisquiteadelightfulman。Iwonderifheisasgood—lookingasMrForsyth。
MrsJimson——Idon’tbelieveitsoundsasniceasMrsForsyth;butthen\"Gideon\"issoreallyodious！Andhereissomeofhismusictoo;thisisdelightful。OrangePekoe——O，that’swhathemeantbysomekindoftea。’Andshetrilledwithlaughter。’Adagiomoltoespressivo，semprelegato，’shereadnext。（Fortheliterarypartofacomposer’sbusinessGideonwaswellequipped。）’Howverystrangetohaveallthesedirections，andonlythreeorfournotes！O，here’sanotherwithsomemore。Andantepatetico。’Andshebegantoglanceoverthemusic。’Odearme，’shethought，’hemustbeterriblymodern！Itallseemsdiscordstome。Let’strytheair。Itisverystrange，itseemsfamiliar。’Shebegantosingit，andsuddenlybrokeoffwithlaughter。’Why，it’s\"TommymakeroomforyourUncle！\"’shecriedaloud，sothatthesoulofGideonwasfilledwithbitterness。’Andantepatetico，indeed！Themanmustbeamereimpostor。’
Andjustatthismomenttherecameaconfused，scufflingsoundfromunderneaththetable;astrangenote，likethatofabarn—doorfowl，usheredinamostexplosivesneeze;theheadofthesuffererwasatthesametimebroughtsmartlyincontactwiththeboardsabove;andthesneezewasfollowedbyahollowgroan。
Juliafledtothedoor，andthere，withthesalutaryinstinctofthebrave，turnedandfacedthedanger。Therewasnopursuit。Thesoundscontinued;belowthetableacrouchingfigurewasindistinctlytobeseenjostledbythethroesofasneezing—fit;