"I—er—no—but I have—have heard of him," stammered the young man.
"He called on you once, I believe, with somebody who sold you some books."
"I don't remember that. But he must be the thief."
"I tell you Nelson is no thief."
"Thank you for that, Miss Gertrude," came from behind the pair, and our hero stepped up. "Mr. Bulson, you haven't any right to call me a thief," he went on, confronting the fashionable young man.
"Go away, boy; I want nothing to do with you," answered Bulson. Nevertheless, he looked curiously at our hero.
"I am no thief, but you are pretty close to being one," went on Nelson.
"Me!"
"Yes, you. You tried to swindle a friend of mine out of the sale of some books you had ordered from him. I call that downright mean."