- end_line
- 1772
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T03:48:16.150Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 1746
- text
- seemed to divine more than he was told; and after a little meditation,
during which his wrinkles were pursed as into a point, quite effacing
for the time that quizzing expression his face sometimes wore--‘Didn’t I
say so, Baby Budd?’
‘Say what?’ demanded Billy.
‘Why, _Jemmy Legs_ is _down_ on you.’
‘And what,’ rejoined Billy in amazement, ‘has _Jemmy Legs_ to do with
that cracked afterguardsman?’
‘Ho, it was an afterguardsman, then. A cat’s-paw, a cat’s-paw!’ And with
that exclamation, which, whether it had reference to a light puff of air
just then coming over the calm sea, or subtler relation to the
afterguardsman, there is no telling. The old Merlin gave a twisting
wrench with his black teeth at his plug of tobacco, vouchsafing no reply
to Billy’s impetuous question. For it was his wont to relapse into grim
silence when interrogated in sceptical sort as to any of his sententious
oracles, not always very clear ones, rather partaking of that obscurity
which invests most Delphic deliverances from any quarter.
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- title
- Chunk 4