Hackworth noted that the lowest and innermost part of the house floor was 
not occupied. He motored down the slope and was shocked to realize that he was 
suddenly up to his waist in painfully chilly water. He threw the chair into 
reverse, but it did not respond to the controls. "Dead in the water!" cried 
the Clown triumphantly, sounding as if he were standing right there, though 
Hackworth couldn't see him. He found a way to release the chair's built-in 
restraints and struggled up the raked floor, his legs stiff from the cold and 
reeking of seawater. Evidently the central third of the floor actually plunged 
beneath the waterline and was open to
the sea—another fact that Hackworth's spectacles had not bothered to 
reveal.