"I say, that's a rum fish—my new neighbor Nelson Powers!"
"You've made acquaintance? You haven't been long about it!"
"He smokes his pipe, leaning over his garden fence; I smoke mine, leaning over my gate. Hence the acquaintance."
"Of course; you're always so affable, so accessible to strangers."
He dropped his scarcely serious pretense of having made Powers's acquaintance casually. "Miss Driver told me something about him. We've been in communication about this house and the Institute, you know."
"Did she tell you anything interesting about him?"
"Only that he'd been a humble friend in days gone by. You're looking rather sour, Austin. Don't you like Mr. Nelson Powers?"
"He's not one of my particular fancies," I admitted.
"Miss Driver says he's devoted to her."
"He's in debt to her, anyhow, I expect—and perhaps that'll do as well."