Read the  sentence. sitting in his highchair, the baby poked curiously at his food. what  is the participial phrase, and which word does it modify? at his food; modifies poked in his highchair; modifies sitting sitting in his highchair; modifies baby poked curiously; modifies baby

London includes a quote about john thornton as he is observing hal attempt to motivate the exhausted dogs "it was idle, he knew, to get between a fool and his folly". if the word "idle" is defined as "of no real worth, importance, or significance", what does this statement mean with regard to hal? who is the fool? what is hal's folly? why would john thornton think it of no real worth or useless to intervene?