" And with that, she turned it in the lock; but alas!
Queequeg's supplemental bolt remained unwithdrawn within.
"Have to burst it open," said I, and was running down the entry
a little, for a good start, when the landlady caught at me,
again vowing I should not break down her premises; but I tore
from her, and with a sudden bodily rush dashed myself full
against the mark.
With a prodigious noise the door flew open, and the knob
slamming against the wall, sent the plaster to the ceiling;
and there, good heavens! there sat Queequeg, altogether cool
and self-collected; right in the middle of the room;
squatting on his hams, and holding Yojo on top of his head.
He looked neither one way nor the other way but sat like a carved
image with scarce a sign of active life.
"Queequeg," said I, going up to him, "Queequeg, what's
the matter with you?"
"He hain't been a sittin' so all day, has he?" said the landlady.
But all we said, not a word could we drag out of him;
I almost felt like pushing him over, so as to change his position,
for it was almost intolerable, it seemed so painfully and
unnaturally constrained; especially, as in all probability
he had been sitting so for upwards of eight or ten hours,
going too without his regular meals.
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