determined not to let the company separate till I had made an attempt to
discover who my midnight singer was. So, when there came a convenient lull
in the talk, I made bold to say:

"Can anyone present tell me who it was that woke me in the night 'with
concord of sweet sounds'?"

A general smile passed around the table at this question, while Fronda
looked at me and said pleasantly,

"It must have been Avis. She is very fond of singing and considers all
hours her own. I hope it did not disturb your slumbers."

"It was no disturbance, I assure you. But is Avis present? I should like
to thank her for the great pleasure she gave me."

"No," replied Fronda, "she took an early breakfast and started out for a
long walk."

"Then I may as well tell you all about it," I said.

And I related my dream and then read to them all the paper I had written.
Everyone listened with the greatest eagerness and showed more interest, I
thought, than the circumstances as I had related them called for, but I
afterwards learned that they had excellent reasons for it.

When breakfast was over I was glad to find that Thorwald seemed to be in
no haste to go home. I began to feel an intense longing to see Avis, and I
had planned, if Thorwald should insist on leaving too soon, to propose to
Proctor that I would stay a few days and assist him in the observatory.