"Is he a friend of yours?" asked Dr. Felbeck, with a disdainful sniff.
"Yes, Mijnheer, my best friend," said Johannes, firmly.
"Well, young man, you consort with odd and dangerous friends.
"Do you know where he is?" asked Johannes, quite undisturbed.
"Not I," declared Felbeck, scornfully. "Do any of you happen to know?"
"I rather think somewhere in the neighborhood of Bedlam," said another man.
"Trommel," called Felbeck to a clerk who had kept on writing, "where does Vis hang out at present?"
"Markus Vis?" said partner Trommel. "Well, for the nonce, at the office of an iron foundry. He has a job there."
"That's a neat berth for him," remarked one of the smokers. "You'll see what a boot-licker he'll be after he puts on a collar."
"What foundry is that?" asked Van Lieverlee.