"Old Lord Halifax!" said Franklin in surprise, walking about with a far-away look in his face again and his hands behind him. "I did not find that name in the volume that I took home. I had an uncle who received favors from old Lord Halifax."
"You did, hey? Where did he live?"
"In Ecton, or in Nottingham."
"Now, that is curious. It may be that he made the library of pamphlets."
"No, no; if he had, he would never have sold them. He was a well-to-do man. But you have not answered my questions as to how the library of pamphlets came to you."
"I can't. I found them here when I took charge of the store. My wife's father, as I said, used to keep the store. He died suddenly in old age, and left the store to my wife. He had made a better living than I out of my business. So I took the store. I found the books here. I do not know where my father-in-law obtained them. It was his business to buy rare books, and then find a way to some antiquarian of means who might want them. The owner's name was not left in these books. I have looked for it many times. But there are names of Nottingham people there, and when old Lord Halifax used to visit London I tried to interest him in them, but he did not care to buy them."
"Father Humphrey, what was your wife's father's name?"
"His name was Axel, sir. He was a good man, sir. He attended the conventicles, sir, and became a Brownite, sir, and——"
Was the American gentleman going daft again?
He stopped at the name of Axel, and lifted his brows. He turned around, and bowed over with a look of intense interest.