had to raise his voice ere he could temporarily arouse me to a sense of reality.
Whenever he shouted into my ear I answered languidly; but even as I replied—(these details my companion furnishes)—my attention wandered off, and my half-finished sentence ended in irrelevant or incoherent nonsense. I had not the strength of will to tear myself away from my dreaming. And no wonder, seeing what dreams were mine! I seemed to be as much at home in water and air as on the earth.
After flying through space towards a star, and noticing as I approached it its increasing magnitude and brightness, I fell seaward; and, plunging beneath the waves, found myself in a glorious cavern, through whose rosy vault echoed the tones of a mighty organ. It must have been at this time that I staggered to the piano which stood in the corner of the room. Under ordinary circumstances I am a poor player; yet I have a good ear and improvise with tolerable facility. My friend, therefore, expected to hear what he had often heard before from me a trivial air, perhaps, and
