He could not imagine why he should have thought of the matter so
suddenly, nor why it seemed so much more important than before. It
required a strong effort to concentrate his mind once more upon what he
was doing, and when he succeeded, he was aware that the point of the
professor's argument had escaped him. Mechanically he looked at his
neighbour to see whether he had been making notes. The latter was a man
much older than himself, and was busily writing upon loose sheets. He
did not look up, but he seemed to understand what Greif wanted, for he
handed him, or tossed him, the piece of paper on which he was
scribbling, numbered the blank page beneath it, and went on quickly
without even turning his eyes. Greif thanked him, and in the next pause
of the lecture copied the notes into his own book. At the end of the
hour Greif returned the sheet and repeated his thanks. He did not know
the man, even by sight, a fact which surprised him, as the stranger was
rather a striking personage.
'I am very much obliged,' he said. 'I was absent-minded--thinking of
something else.'
'That is always rash,' replied the other. 'I am very glad to have been
of service to you.'
Although Greif was not fond of making acquaintances among students who
wore no colours, he could not refrain from continuing the conversation.
The two were the last to leave the hall and went down the broad
staircase together.
'You have not been long in the University,' he observed.
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