But in love-making, as in the other arts, those do it best who cannot tell how it is done; and he was always stricken with a palsy when about to present that letter.

It seemed that he was only able to speak to ladies when they were not there.

Well, if he could not speak, he thought the more; he thought so profoundly that in time the heroines of Pym ceased to thrill him.
This was because he had found out that they were not flesh and blood.
But he did not delight in his discovery: it horrified him; for what he wanted was the old thrill.

To make them human so that they could be his little friends again--nothing less was called for.

This meant slaughter here and there of the great Pym's brain-work, and Tommy tried to keep his hands off; but his heart was in it.