Challenger. He laughed until everything in the room seemed to
rattle and quiver.

"Our worthy Summerlee is, not for the first time, somewhat out
of touch with the facts of the situation," said he at last,
mopping his heated brow. "Now, gentlemen, I cannot make my point
better than by detailing to you what I have myself done this
morning. You will the more easily condone any mental aberration
upon your own part when you realize that even I have had moments
when my balance has been disturbed. We have had for some years
in this household a housekeeper--one Sarah, with whose second
name I have never attempted to burden my memory. She is a woman
of a severe and forbidding aspect, prim and demure in her
bearing, very impassive in her nature, and never known within
our experience to show signs of any emotion. As I sat alone at
my breakfast--Mrs. Challenger is in the habit of keeping her
room of a morning--it suddenly entered my head that it would be
entertaining and instructive to see whether I could find any
limits to this woman's inperturbability. I devised a simple but
effective experiment. Having upset a small vase of flowers which
stood in the centre of the cloth, I rang the bell and slipped
under the table. She entered and, seeing the room empty,
imagined that I had withdrawn to the study. As I had expected,
she approached and leaned over the table to replace the vase. I
had a vision of a cotton stocking and an elastic-sided boot.
Protruding my head, I sank my teeth into the calf of her leg.
The experiment was successful beyond belief. For some moments
she stood paralyzed, staring down at my head. Then with a shriek
she tore herself free and rushed from the room. I pursued her
with some thoughts of an explanation, but she flew down the