With this he waved me to a seat
(с этими словами он указал мне на стул;‘And pray, sir, by what right have you forced an entrance into my house?’
‘The same by which I should have clung to your boat, if I were drowning. The right of self-preservation.’
‘Self-preservation?’
‘There’s an inch of snow on the ground already,’ I replied, briefly; ‘and it would be deep enough to cover my body before daybreak.’
He strode to the window, pulled aside a heavy black curtain, and looked out.
‘It is true,’ he said. ‘You can stay, if you choose, till morning. Jacob, serve the supper.’
With this he waved me to a seat, resumed his own, and became at once absorbed in the studies from which I had disturbed him.