“You know Johnston, don’t you?” he asked.
“How are you, Hicks?” inquired Mart. “How’s the old boy?”
“How do you do?” murmured Hicks. “I—I wanted to ask——”
“Have a chair,” interrupted Ira. “Did you—did you find out about the—er—the Hamiltonian Theory?”
“Hamiltonian-System,” Hicks corrected. “Not all I want. There’s a book in the catalogue that I couldn’t find. They’re very careless at the library about misplacing volumes, and—” Hicks paused and frowned. “Oh, yes,” he resumed. “I want to ask you if—if you know anything about that Encyclopedia Universal. I came in awhile ago and——”
“I’ve heard it was a very good encyclopedia,” said Ira hurriedly, winking desperately at Hicks and all to no purpose. “Don’t you think so, Mart?”
“Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Go ahead and rave! Don’t mind my presence on the scene. Gibber away, you two!”
“But, what I mean,” resumed Hicks, after a puzzled look at Mart, “is how did it get there? I thought maybe—perhaps—You see, I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else——”