And when she reached the end of the wharf she snapped her fingers in the air.
Then I drew my head back, and I could hear the watchman guffaw as if he would have split his sides.

And even after he began to tramp up and down I could hear him still chuckling as he paced by.
And if I did not hear Biddy chuckle, it was perhaps because the joke on her side lay deeper down..