The litter of carpentry on the bare floor testified to the room's recent use.
"Sit down, won't you, and have a cigar ?" Dan hesitated.

He felt that he must be the victim of a practical joke, and it was time that his dignity asserted itself.

He had accepted a cigar and was holding it in his fingers, still standing.

His strange guide struck a match and held it, so that Dan perforce took advantage of the proffered flame; and he noticed now for the first time the young fellow's slender, nervous hands, which bore no marks of hard toil.

He continued to watch them with interest as they found and filled a pipe.
They were amazingly deft, expressive hands.
"Have a chair! It's a good one; I made it myself!" With this the young gentleman jumped lightly upon the workbench where he nursed his knees and smoked his pipe.