I think he's realized he's wrong and is trying to wiggle, wriggle out. Like the guy who opposes verbal obstruction, this guy is "alone, alone, all, all alone, alone on a...."
Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony.
A wonderful "Rime". And how Ancient are we who remember it?