The spider not only knew Sloane's surname, even if he pronounced it a little differently than most people did, but now she was petting him. Lester was trying not to look as nervous as he was, half so that the spider didn't know and half so that Sloane didn't.

But she was reading the book, and the spider was listening, and so he sat down next to Sloane on the ground and listened to her read the book. When she reached a stopping point — the end of the section, or just when she needed to take a breath — he managed to say, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bertram."

He looked at Sloane afterwards, hoping for approval.