'Was that Mr. Copping who was with the Professor just now?'
'Yes, the clean-shaven man was Mr. Andrew J. Copping, of Omaha.'
'Is he also stopping at the hotel?' Miss Paulo asked.
'No.' Mr. Wilkins explained. Mr. Copping was apparently for the time a resident of London, and lived, he believed, somewhere in the Camden Town region. But he was very anxious that his friend and compatriot should be comfortable, and that his rooms should be commodious.
'How many rooms does Professor Flick occupy?' asked Miss Paulo.
It seemed that the Professor occupied a little suite of rooms which comprised a bedroom and sitting-room, with a bath-room. It seemed that the Professor was a very studious person and that he would take all his meals by himself, as he pursued the study of folk-lore even at his meals, and wished not to have his attention in the least disturbed during the process.
'What an impassioned scholar!' said Miss Paulo. 'I had no idea that places like Denver and Sacramento were leisurely enough to produce such ardent students of folk-lore.'
'Not to mention Omaha,' added Mr. Wilkins.
'Is Mr. Copping also a folk-lorist then?' inquired Miss Paulo; and Mr. Wilkins replied that he believed so, that he had gathered as much from the remarks of Mr. Copping on the various occasions when he had called at the hotel.
'The various occasions?'