“You called him Professor Puffer. What is he professor of?”
“I believe he is interested in antiquities.”
“He seems to me more interested in liquor. But I must apologize. I should not speak so of your friend.”
Bernard laughed.
“I am not sensitive on the subject of my friend, or rather my employer,” he said.
“Your employer?”
“Yes; I am his secretary, and I believe I am to assist him in his literary labors.”
“Then I suppose you will become a professor of antiquities also.”
“Perhaps so,” assented Bernard, with a smile.
“For my part, I don’t care much for antiquities. I am more interested in the present than in the past. I am buyer for a Boston house, and my name is Nelson Sturgis. How may I call you?”