He rubbed his legs and shook his head, apparently overcome by the queerness of it. Kendrick, judging that another Mediterranean cruise was imminent, made a remark calculated to keep him at home.
"What did this—what's-her-name—this Tidditt woman say about me?" he asked.
"Hey? Oh, she said that Judge Knowles wanted to see you. Said that he asked about you 'most every day, wanted to know how you was gittin' along, because just as soon as you was well enough to cruise on your own hook he wanted you to come in and see him."
"Judge Knowles wanted me to come in and see him? Why, that's funny! I don't know the judge well. Haven't seen him for years, and then only two or three times. What on earth can Judge Knowles have to say to me?.... Humph! I can't think."
He tried to think, nevertheless. Judah busied himself with the sloppy process of clam opening. A little later he observed:
"So you wan't lonesome all alone here by yourself while I was gone, Cap'n? That's good. Glad to hear it."
"Thanks, Judah. I wasn't alone, though."
"You wan't? Sho! Do tell! Have company, did ye? Somebody run in?"
"Yes. And they wouldn't run out again, not for a good while. They came on business."
"Business? What kind of business?"