the Professor. "I
remembered your wonderful good nature, sir, in accompanying my wife and
daughter on all sorts of expeditions in the blazing hot weather we had
at St. Luc--when you might have remained quietly at the hotel with me.
Not that I should trouble you now, only I have to lunch at the Oriental
Club, and I've an appointment afterwards to examine and report on a
recently-discovered inscribed cylinder for the Museum, which will fully
occupy the rest of the afternoon, so that it's physically impossible for
me to go to Hammond's myself, and I strongly object to employing a
broker when I can avoid it. Where did I put that catalogue?... Ah, here
it is. This was sent to me by the executors of my old friend, General
Collingham, who died the other day. I met him at Nakada when I was out
excavating some years ago. He was something of a collector in his way,
though he knew very little about it, and, of course, was taken in right
and left. Most of his things are downright rubbish, but there are just a
few lots that are worth securing, at a reasonable figure, by some one
who knew what he was about."

"But, my dear Professor," remonstrated Horace, not relishing this
responsibility, "I'm afraid I'm as likely as not to pick up some of the
rubbish. I've no special knowledge of Oriental curios."

"At St. Luc," said the Professor, "you impressed me as having, for an
amateur, an exceptionally accurate and comprehensive acquaintance with
Egyptian and Arabian art from the earliest period." (If this were so,
Horace could only feel with shame what a fearful humbug he must have
been.) "However, I've no wish to lay too heavy a burden on you, and, as
you will see from this catalogue, I have ticked off the lots in which I
am chiefly interested, and made a note of the limit to which I am
prepared to bid, so you'll have no difficulty."

"Very well," said Horace; "I'll go straight to Covent Garden, and slip
out and get some lunch later on."

"Well, perhaps, if you don't mind. The lots I have marked seem to come
on at rather frequent intervals, but don't let that consideration deter
you from getting your lunch, and if you _should_ miss anything by not
being on the spot, why, it's of no consequence, though I don't say it
mightn't be a pity. In any case, you won't forget to mark what each lot
fetches, and perhaps you wouldn't mind dropping me a line when you
return the catalogue--or stay, could you look in some time after dinner
this evenin