Bok then broached his mission.
"You are quite in error, Mr. Bok," was the Dodgson comment. "You are
not speaking to the person you think you are addressing."
For a moment Bok was taken aback. Then he decided to go right to the
point.
"Do I understand, Mr. Dodgson, that you are not 'Lewis Carroll'; that
you did not write _Alice in Wonderland_?"
For an answer the tutor rose, went into another room, and returned with
a book which he handed to Bok. "This is my book," he said simply. It
was entitled _An Elementary Treatise on Determinants_, by C. L.
Dodgson. When he looked up, Bok found the author's eyes riveted on him.
"Yes," said Bok. "I know, Mr. Dodgson. If I remember correctly, this
is the same book of which you sent a copy to Her Majesty, Queen
Victoria, when she wrote to you for a personal copy of your _Alice_."
Dodgson made no comment. The face was absolutely without expression
save a kindly compassion intended to convey to the editor that he was
making a terrible mistake.
"As I said to you in the beginning, Mr.
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