“Ahem！”repliedmyfriend，takingoffhiscoat，withadeepsigh，tyingapocket-handkerchiefaroundhiswaist，andproducinganunaccountablealterationinhiscountenancebytwistinguphiseyesandbringingdownthecornersofhismouth“ahem！”And“ahem！”saidheagain，afterapause；andnotanotherwordmorethan“ahem！”didIeverknowhimtosayafterthat。“Aha！”thoughtI，withoutexpressingmyselfaloud“thisisquitearemarkablesilenceonthepartofTobyDammit，andisnodoubtaconsequenceofhisverbosityuponapreviousoccasion。Oneextremeinducesanother。IwonderifhehasforgottenthemanyunanswerablequestionswhichhepropoundedtomesofluentlyonthedaywhenIgavehimmylastlecture？Atallevents，heiscuredofthetranscendentals。”
“Ahem！”hererepliedToby，justasifhehadbeenreadingmythoughts，andlookinglikeaveryoldsheepinarevery。
Theoldgentlemannowtookhimbythearm，andledhimmoreintotheshadeofthebridgeafewpacesbackfromtheturnstile。“Mygoodfellow。”
saidhe，“Imakeitapointofconsciencetoallowyouthismuchrun。Waithere，tillItakemyplacebythestile，sothatImayseewhetheryougooverithandsomely，andtranscendentally，anddon’tomitanyflourishesofthepigeon-wing。Amereform，youknow。Iwillsay’one，two，three，andaway。’Mindyou，startattheword’away’“Herehetookhispositionbythestile，pausedamomentasifinprofoundreflection，thenlookedupand，Ithought，smiledveryslightly，thentightenedthestringsofhisapron，thentookalonglookatDammit，andfinallygavethewordasagreedupon-
_Onetwothreeandaway！_