“Whenyouarepickingupshellsonthebeach，Mr。Midwinter，youusuallybeginwiththeshellsthatlienearestathand。”herejoined。“Wearepickingupfactsnow;andthosethatareeasiesttogetatarethefactswewilltakefirst。LettheShadowoftheManandtheShadowoftheWomanpairofftogetherforthepresent;wewon’tlosesightofthem，Ipromiseyou。Allingoodtime，mydearsir;allingoodtime！“
He，too，waspolite，andhe，too，wassarcastic。Theshorttrucebetweentheopponentswasatanendalready。Midwinterreturnedsignificantlytohisformerplacebythewindow。Thedoctorinstantlyturnedhisbackonthewindowmoresignificantlystill。
Allan，whoneverquarreledwithanybody’sopinion，andneverlookedbelowthesurfaceofanybody’sconduct，drummedcheerfullyonthetablewiththehandleofhisknife。“Goon，doctor！“hecalledout;“mywonderfulmemoryisasfreshasever。”
“Isit？”saidMr。Hawbury，referringagaintothenarrativeofthedream。“DoyourememberwhathappenedwhenyouandIweregossipingwiththelandladyatthebarofthehotellastnight？”
“OfcourseIdo！Youwerekindenoughtohandmeaglassofbrandy-and-water，whichthelandladyhadjustmixedforyourowndrinking。AndIwasobligedtorefuseitbecause，asItoldyou，thetasteofbrandyalwaysturnsmesickandfaint，mixithowyouplease。”