"What are we?" I answered, clearing my throat.

He gripped his knees and turned to look at me again.  For half a
minute, perhaps, he stared silently.

"I was walking through the roads to clear my brain," he said.  "And
suddenly--fire, earthquake, death!"

He relapsed into silence, with his chin now sunken almost to his
knees.

Presently he began waving his hand.