"Waldberg's going to relieve the dryness of the lecture with a little music. He offered, and I thought it a good idea."
"Mr. Waldberg is a friend of yours, isn't he?" remarked Nora.
"Yes, Waldberg and I started a friendship when I first met him, along with a party of jolly students, while I was taking a walking-tour in Germany. He and I spent some happy days, roaming about the Black Forest together; and as I found that he was just about to start for the New World to seek his fortune, I gave him a note to my friend Burnet, the editor of the Minerva, you know. So when I arrived here, I found he had cast anchor in Minton; and we have kept together ever since. He and I recall to each other a good many pleasant associations, as we often talk over the 'Fatherland;' and I keep my German a little in practice. He likes to talk it now and then, of course, though he speaks English so well. He and I and my old friend, Mr. Dunlop, get on very comfortably together. Dunlop has rather a fancy for Waldberg, though he thinks him a little reckless. I sometimes wish he had a little more of Dunlop's sound Scotch principle."
"Oh, I suppose that Mr. Dunlop is the old gentleman I took such a fancy to," said Nora.
"Where did you meet him?" he asked.
"At Mr. Pomeroy's; there happened a discussion there about these labor questions, and he spoke out so strongly!"
"Oh, yes, Dunlop's sound enough on that head, and he's by no means afraid of saying what he thinks. You see, he's rich enough to be able to take liberties, though he likes to live quietly in his own old-fashioned way. He has plenty of time on his hands, and it has been a great interest to him to read this thing up. I should not have been able to start The Brotherhood without his help, and he's as much interested in this lecture of mine as I am."
"Is he all alone in the world, then?" asked Nora.
"Yes—he seems so. His wife and only child died long ago, and he doesn't care to live by himself. He has his own two comfortable rooms, and he sometimes has Waldberg and me in to dine with him. He has taken up some idea that I must be a distant relation of his, a Scotch cousin of some remote degree, because my mother's name was Dunlop. He has been writing to her about it, to see if he can establish some link of relationship."
Evidently Mr. Graeme must be a great favorite of this old gentleman, Nora thought.