He put on his cap and accompanied us back to the office.

He did his best: no one could say he did not.

He told them who we were: they asked him how he knew.
For reply he asked them how they thought he knew his mother: he just knew us: it was second nature with him.

He implied that the question was a silly one, and suggested that, as his time was valuable, they should hand us over the three bags and have done with their nonsense.
They asked him how long he had known us.

He threw up his hands with an eloquent gesture: memory refused to travel back such distance.