Cleggett as if unfavorably impressed. Finally he closed his
knife with a click and suddenly piped out in a high, shrill
voice:

"No! Do you?"

"I--er--do I what?" It had taken the old man so long to answer
that Cleggett had forgotten his own question, and the shrill
fierceness of the voice was disconcerting.

He regarded Cleggett contemptuously, spat on the deck, and then
demanded truculently:

"D'ye want to buy any seed potatoes?"

"Why--er, no," said Cleggett.

"Humph!" said the brown one, with the air of meaning that it was
only to be expected of an idiot like Cleggett that he would NOT
want to buy any seed potatoes. But after a further embarrassing
silence he relented enough to give Cleggett another chance.

"You want some seed corn!" he announced rather than asked.

"No. I------"

"Tomato plants!" shrilled the brown one, as if daring him to deny
it.

"No."