“Nodoubt，nodoubt，“heagreedhalfaudibly，then，asifaftermatureconsideration，murmured，“Evidently。“Imadenodifficultyincommunicatingtohimwhathadinterestedmemostinthisaffair。Itseemedasthoughhehadarighttoknow：hadn’thespentthirtyhoursonboardthePatna——hadhenottakenthesuccession，sotospeak，hadhenotdone“hispossible“？
Helistenedtome，lookingpriestlikethanever，andwithwhat——probablyonaccountofhisdowncasteyes——hadtheappearanceofdevoutconcentration。
Onceortwiceheelevatedhiseyebrowsbutwithoutraisinghiseyelids，asonewouldsay，“Thedevil!“Oncehecalmlyexclaimed，“Ah，bah!“underhisbreath，andwhenIhadfinishedhepursedhislipsinadeliberatewayandemittedasortofsorrowfulwhistle。
`Inanyoneelseitmighthavebeenevidenceofboredom，asignofindifference；
buthe，inhisoccultway，managedtomakehisimmobilityappearprofoundlyresponsive，andasfullofvaluablethoughtsasaneggisofmeat。Whathesaidatlastwasnothingmorethana“veryinteresting，“pronouncedpolitely，andnotmuchaboveawhisper。BeforeIgotovermydisappointmentheadded，butasifspeakingtohimself，“That’sit。Thatisit。“