The sob that Salem involuntarily let out at the threat probably hurt his performance, so maybe it was time to switch tactics to the ol' reliable; playing for sympathy. He must have been really good at it, though, because he was already being lowered before he had to even concoct a story about his poor, sickly mother. Once in contact with the ground, he immediately declared, "So long, sucker!" and made to dart away. This was his first and only ever mistake, as the big tin can had one more thing to say that had Salem sliding to a stop before he'd even gotten his speed up.

"Is...what I would have said," he tried to recover, watching the book anxiously. He should probably look out for that. "If I was a scaredy cat. That's actually a discriminatory myth, and you should be ashamed of yourself."