diff --git a/scsh/meta-arg.scm b/scsh/meta-arg.scm
index 216db6d..c7c86ae 100644
--- a/scsh/meta-arg.scm
+++ b/scsh/meta-arg.scm
@@ -93,13 +93,13 @@
 
 
 (define (read-backslash-sequence port)
-  (let ((c1 (read-char port))
-	(eof-lose (lambda () (error "Premature EOF within backslash-sequence in meta-arg argument line")))
-	(octet->int (lambda (c)
-		      (cond ((eof-object? c) (eof-lose))
-			    ((char-set-contains? char-set:octal-digits c)
-			     (- (char->ascii c) (char->ascii #\0)))
-			    (else (error "Non-octal-digit in \\nnn escape sequence in meta-arg argument line." c))))))
+  (let* ((c1 (read-char port))
+	 (eof-lose (lambda () (error "Premature EOF within backslash-sequence in meta-arg argument line")))
+	 (octet->int (lambda (c)
+		       (cond ((eof-object? c) (eof-lose))
+			     ((char-set-contains? char-set:octal-digits c)
+			      (- (char->ascii c) (char->ascii #\0)))
+			     (else (error "Non-octal-digit in \\nnn escape sequence in meta-arg argument line." c))))))
 
     (cond ((eof-object? c1) (eof-lose))