'I was a great disappointment to the Dons,' Carrel said with a short
laugh, and he lit a cigarette with all the swagger of an undergraduate.
'And to your parents?' queried Lachsyrma.
'My mother was dead. I don't exactly know who my father was. I fear
these details bore you, however. To-morrow--' he added satirically.
'A very romantic story, no doubt,' said the Professor, rising from his
chair, 'and it interests me--moderately; but before we go on any further,
I will be candid with you. That papyrus is a forgery--a very clever
forgery, too. I wonder why the writer tried Euripides; we have almost
enough of him.'
'So do I sometimes,' returned Carrel cheerfully. The Professor arched
his eyebrows in surprise.
He removed the green cardboard lampshade to keep his equivocal visitor
under strict observation.
'If you knew it was a forgery, why did you waste my time and your own in
bringing it here? In order to tell me a long story about yourself, which
if true is extraordinarily dull?'
It is almost an established convention for experts to be rude when they
have given an adverse opinion on anything submitted to them. It gives
weight to their statements. In the present case, however, the Professor
was really annoyed.
'I wanted to know if you recognised the papyrus,' said Carrel, and he
smiled disingenuously. The Professor was startled.
'Yes; it was offered to me in Cairo last winter by a German dealer in
antiquities.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25