"And hold it very carefully."
"Esteemed order booked," said Hugo. "Carry on."
"Are you sure you are holding it carefully?"
"As in a vise."
"Well, don't let go."
Mr. Carmody, dying a considerable number of deaths in the process, descended. He found his nephew's curiosity at close range even more acute than it had been from a distance.
"What on earth were you doing up there?" said Hugo, starting again at the beginning.
"Never mind."
"But what were you?"
"If you wish to know, a rung broke and the ladder slipped."