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He listened a long time. Somewhere far away, it might be in the

gateway, two voices were loudly and shrilly shouting, quarrelling

and scolding. "What are they about?" He waited patiently. At last

all was still, as though suddenly cut off; they had separated. He

was meaning to go out, but suddenly, on the floor below, a door

was noisily opened and someone began going downstairs humming a

tune. "How is it they all make such a noise?" flashed through his

mind. Once more he closed the door and waited. At last all was

still, not a soul stirring. He was just taking a step towards the

stairs when he heard fresh footsteps.