“No. My brains, such as they are, are all right, and I want to keep them so. That's why I request you not to look at me in that way.”
“How was I lookin' at you? I don't know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. You are wondering how much I know. I don't know anything and I'm not curious. That's the truth. Now why not let it go at that?”
“See here, young feller, I—”
“No; you see here. I'm not an Old Sleuth; I haven't any ambitions that way. I don't know anything about you—what you've been, what you've done—”
“Done!” Seth leaned across the table so suddenly that he upset his chair. “Done?” he cried; “what do you mean by that? Who said I'd done anything? It's a lie.”
“What is a lie?”
“Why—why—er—whatever they said!”
“Who said?”
“Why, the ones that—that said what you said they said.”