He's a pest all round-and now, this!" Ingolby kept blinking reflectively as Jowett talked.

He was doing two things at once with a facility quite his own.

He was understanding all Jowett was saying, but he was also weighing the whole situation.

His mind was gone fishing, figuratively speaking.

He was essentially a man of action, but his action was the bullet of his mind; he had to be quiet physically when he was really thinking.