I waited no further parley but immediately walked out of the room.
With one foot I was sufficiently pleased. As regarded that I felt
that I had overcome my difficulty. But the other was not so
satisfactory. Whenever I attempted to lift it from the ground the
horrid slipper would fall off, or only just hang by the toe. As for
dancing, that would be out of the question.

"Och, murther, murther," sang out Larry, as he heard me going down
stairs. "What will I do at all? Tare and 'ounds; there, he's at it
agin, as mad as blazes." This last exclamation had reference to
another peal which was evidently the work of the master's hand.

I confess I was not quite comfortable as I walked down stairs. In
the first place I was nearly half an hour late, and I knew from the
vigour of the peals that had sounded that my slowness had already
been made the subject of strong remarks. And then my left shoe went
flop, flop, on every alternate step of the stairs. By no exertion of
my foot in the drawing up of my toe could I induce it to remain
permanently fixed upon my foot. But over and above and worse than
all this was the conviction strong upon my mind that I should become
a subject of merriment to the girls as soon as I entered the room.
They would understand the cause of my distress, and probably at this
moment were expecting to hear me clatter through the stone hall with
those odious metal boots.

However, I hurried down and entered the drawing-room, determined to
keep my position near the door, so that I might have as little as
possible to do on entering and as little as possible in going out.
But I had other difficulties in store for me. I had not as yet been