returning to the spouter-inn from the chapel, i found queequeg there quite alone; he having left the chapel before the benediction some time. he was sitting on a bench before the fire, with his feet on the stove hearth, and in one hand was holding close up to his face that little negro idol of his; peering hard into its face, and with a jack-knife gently whittling away at its nose, meanwhile humming to himself in his heathenish way.