Then Mr. Duff Salter sneezed very loudly, "Jericho! Jericho! Jericho!" Podge ran off at such a serious turn of responses, but was too much of a woman not to be lured back of her own will. He wrote later in the evening this touching query:
"How do the birds sing now? Are they all dumb?"
She answered, "Many can hear who never heard them."
He wrote again, "Are you suspicious?"
She replied, "Very. Are you?"
He shook his head "No."
"I believe he is," said Podge, turning to Agnes, who had entered. "He looks as if he had asked that question of himself."
Duff Salter seized his handkerchief and sneezed into it, "Jericho-o! Jericho-wo!"
Podge was sure he was suspicious the next night when she read on his tablets the rather imputative remark,
"Is there anything demoralizing in teaching public schools?"