"I thought Thorpe was rather interested in that direction."
"Well, rather! Why, they've been exclusively interested in each other all winter."
"Thorpe's a close-mouthed chap. We live together, but we seldom exchange confidences. I like him pretty well, but——"
"But what?"
"I oughtn't to say it, but I don't altogether trust him. We're working for a prize, you know, the Callender medal, and sometimes I've imagined that he——"
"I know, he steals your ideas."
"Well, I wouldn't put it so bluntly, but he is an unconscious kleptomaniac, I think. He watches my drawing—I go astray sometimes to mislead him—and next thing I know he incorporates the same motive in his own sketches. I wouldn't say this to any one else, but I'm a little worried about it. Not so much about his taking my stuff as the fear that some one will think I've taken his."
"How's your work progressing?"
"Well—if Thorpe lets me alone."