"Are you another of 'em?" asked the occupier of the rooms.
"Oh, it isn't," said Bob. And, choking down his disappointment, his politeness returned.
"Is this your Greek dictionary?" he asked, courteously. "I found it lying on Mr. Carteret Williams on the next landing, and he said he didn't want it."
The man named Bunting seized the dictionary, and then took Bob by the shoulder and led him in. Bob went like a lamb, for this Mr. Bunting was six feet high, about three feet across the chest, more or less, and had a grip like clip-hooks on a bale.
"Was that man named Williams?" he asked.
"Yes," said Bob.
"You know him?"
"Why, of course," said Bob. "I know 'em all."
"All I've thrown down-stairs this afternoon?"
"I think so," said Bob, modestly. "At least, I met Mr. Plant and Mr. Gordon, who looked very much as if they had fallen down-stairs. And I think the little gentleman you dropped out of the window on the grass must have been Mr. Austin de Vere."