S continues to slip through the forest without being caught. As he goes, he contemplates the birds chirping around him. “The air is full of birdsong, though the singers are unseen” (354). Straka uses the word “preep” to describe what the birds are doing, and he italicizes it. Interestingly, preep is not a word. It likely just means peep, but the fact that it is underlined may have some significance. Jen and Eric do not note it, and neither does FXC, so it may just be indicating the sound that the birds make.

FXC has a footnote describing how Straka was a passionate bird-watcher. This influence is clear in his writings, since he often mentions birds, and names many of his characters after them. FXC illustrates his passion with an example, describing how occasionally Straka would tell her that he could not write for a week or two because there were some particularly beautiful birds moving through the area and he has to observe them.

Finally S comes to the mansion itself. He sees servants clearing tables and guards tiredly surveying the area. This is the extent of the text of Ship of Theseus on this page.

Once again, there are very few comments from Eric and Jen on this page. The only mark is a solitary bracket from Eric that leads into a quote on the next page. It is interesting that Jen does not comment on the word “reconnoitering,” since for much of the novel she relishes in pointing out unique and unique-sounding words that may be among her favorites. This could show that she has matured, or that she has gotten bored of the exercise, since she repeated it for so long.