Maybe the banging just sounded louder and more jarring from inside the house where bangings and scrapings had no right to be. On the other hand, maybe he coincidentally happened to have calmed down a little just as Jack came brooming his way around the corner. The admiral was testing the structural integrity of a series of panels of exterior siding. After gently taptaptaptapping he tucked the handle of the hammer under his waistband and set to running his fingers over the edges, feeling for cracks and fissures. Jack, so far, went entirely un-noticed.