Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-03-06
clean-shsven face, and spoke like a for

81 went back to the college and saw
n Of Georges most intimate associ-
ates. The description he gave Of Blink
er's substitute was the very reverse of
that furnished by Binker. The man,
said the student, was over fifty, tall and
stout. with black hair and a full black
beard. and spoke excellent English
II went to Binker's once more and
asked him when he resumed his duties
after his sickness. Singularly enough,
it was the very day after George Gleig
had disappeared--February 26.
"'Did you see your substitute after
your returnp'
".No, l did not was the answer.
"'And you have never seen him
since, or heard of him?' l asked.
"'I have not he answered.
"Further inquiry showed that George
Gleig and Binker's substitute dfsap-
peared from public gaze at the same
time. After some trouble [ found the
place where the substitute had lodged,
and discovered that he passed under
the name of Brown. A crown piece
put me on pleasant terms with the old
lady who kept the house. She said
that all the time Brown staid there with
his daughter. Binker was a frequent
visitor. sometimes staying late into the
light. She allowed me to see the room
occupied by Brown, and you may de-
pend upon it l rummaged for some
fragment that might help me to a clew.
But l didn't find any. On leaving the
with a letter in her hand.
kkrTl~., -~.I H. o-.1 e. NJ.
Brown the very day after he left
81 examined the envelope. 1t was in
a lady's hand, and bore the Shrewsbury
postmark. l should have liked to see
the inside, but that couldn't be, and SO
1 gave it back to the old lady, after a
very careful scrutiny. I went to my
hotel and set to work to reproduce that
envelope and all it contained. With a
little ingenuity I made an envelope that
would pass muster. Then I manufac-
tured an inside, and the letter l returned
to her was the counterfeit. When I
reached my hotel l slit the envelope
and drew forth the paper it contained.
1t was a blank! Iscrutinized it closely,
and finally held it up to the light. The
riddle was solveda These words were
distinctly visible:
I've are very anxious about you. Why
don't you write? JANE
t'This told me nothing, but the en-
velope showed me that the letter came
from Shrewsbury. Thither l went-of
course. [ was not such a fool as to be-
lieve that Mr.. Brown at Oxford would
be Mr.. Brown at shrewsbury, but I was
II hopes that something might turn up
of fhn 1ottov. ~1ooo To +6.ory Il oh ,,,1on
the mystery l was attempting to solve.
The day after my arrival 1 saw a gem
tleman enter a bank whom / deter
mined to examine a little more closely.
On his returning to the street / scrutin-
lied him, and thought he answered
Browns description.
II ascertained that his name was
Bignall. and that he resided in the SUBJ
urbs. [ found further that he was for
merly a strolling dentist, going from
one town to another practicing his pro-
f%ession, and that while at Shrewsbury
he had had for a patient a widow, who
resided withs1er son and two daughters
in the outskirts of the town, where her
husband had left her an annuity of six
hundred pounds sterling a year. He
had married the widow and resided
there ever since. 1 laid a little plot. [
wrote a note to MIR. Bignall and signed
it Binker, telling him that business of
the utmost Importance to him had
brought me to Shrewsbury, and that he
must meet Binker at the Red Cross Inn
at seven o'clock that evening. True to
the minute, Mr.. Bignall appeared, and
seemed greatly %perturbed when no
Binker was forthcoming. After max
ing many inquiries, and waiting for
eel two hours, he went away.
Naturally after he was gone, the
townspeople in the bar began to talk
about MI. Bignall.
"'It was a lucky thing for him when
he married the Widow Gleig,' some one
said.
"Istarted andunwittingly exclaimed,
The Widow Gleig!r Then it was ex-
planned, and l soon learned hat Mrs.
Bignall was the widow of the younger
brother of Rev. DR.. Gleig. Here was
a most unexpected discovery, and, be
sure, [ made the most of it. On DR..
Gleig's death, which might occur at
any moment, his son George would fall
heir to the property, and if George was
removed the next heirwould be the son
of Mr.. Bignall's wife!
Il felt now that / was on the right
track. 1 went to Leicestershire,
whittier I heard DR.. Gleig and his wife
had removed, and saw Mrs. Gleig. Had
she a photograph of George? Unfor-
tunately she had not. Could she de-
scribe him accurately? She thought
she could, but sadly blundered over it.
Was he like her or DR.. Gleig?: Like
her? Yes, she had a photograph of
herself taken just before her marriage,
to which George bore a striking resem-
blance. l got the likeness, went to
Leicester and had a dozen copies made.
l took with me to Dr.. Gleig's residence,
ear Sileby, the best portrait painter I
could tindin Leicester. He cut out the
face Of the photograph and pasted it on
cardboard. Then he drew and painted
the bust of a young man to match the
head, using a coat OF Georges to go
by. Next, following Mrs. Gleig's de-
%scription, he added the hair as George
vas accustomed to wear his, and
painted it light brown. Atouch here
and there, and Mrs Gleig declared that
it was the image of her son. Domes-
tics recognized it instantly, and, when
shown to DIR. Gleio. his dim eve hripht-