Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-02-04

moment, and drawing large handller-
chief from his pocket he mopped his
flushed face with it, glancing furtivcly
at North the while from behind the
AMBUSH of snowy cambria. He was
still chuckling with suppressed merri-
ment when he finally spoke again. as
everyone was evidently waiting for him
to do.
THAT'S not so bad now, gentlemen
not so bad!" declared the colonel, who
had q happy appreciation of humor,
however absurd or whimsical 1t might
be, and an amiable habit of sympathiz-
ing with any nonsense that might be
ahoat. "Glad to see you here again,
anyway, Mr.. North. You'll have the
same rooms again, suppose? They
haven't been taken yet, you sec. Kept
'em for you all this timer
This was said with renewed chuck
ling and an air of good-naturedly,
though clumsily, Carrying on the pleas
antry that Mr.. North had originated.
"Confound them ALL" thought the
latter in despair. ''Whoever heard of
such n case? How dare they dispute
my word? Oaths and protcstations
seem to have no more weight than a
feather against their own stupid pre-
conceived ideas. l begin to feel my
reason lettering, my memory failing
me! Where did | ever see these idiots
before? It's all nonsense; l never saw
them in my lifcl And yet am certain
| ly Allan North, attorney at law. How
could they know me SO we'll if they had
never seen me before? Was here four
| hours ago? Am their old friend and
cOmradc? Or am | dreaming-be-
| witchcd? No, no! 1t is Il case of mis-
| taken identity; am clearly the unhap-
py victim of some other fellows good
| fortune-his strange and unaccountable
resemblance to me. The same
name, too; what singular CO.
medicines! Upon my word, this
savors of comedy, and, since it is
forced upon me, III take my role and
see what can make of it. I'm in the
hands of these harmless lunatics who
think they know who am better than
do myself; so I'll humor them for the
present. It's q queer ENHANCEMENT,
but protestations are useless unless the
other fellow should turn up and settle
the question; and, so far as I can see,
the best thing for me to do is to drift
with this tide which have found it so
take care of themselves. 1t cannot do
any harm. How could anyone blame
me for it, under the circumstances
And, really, might as we'll combine q
little innocent amusement with the i'm
pOrtant business that calls me to V,
Unless am vastly mistaken, this prom
ises to be the most divcrting experience
| eyer happened upon"
This soliloquy flashed through North's
mind in n very brief time. during which
he stood abstractedly in the center o:
the group whose chatting remarks h'
only half heard or comprehended; anc
as 1t reached this definite conclusion h
resigned himself to his fate with sens
of reckless enjoyment.
certainly, colonel" he said, having
caught the title, though the name of tn
gentlemanly manager had escaped him
"the same rooms, by all means By tn
way, shall register?"
las you please, Mr.. North; as yo1
please. When will you leave off jest
ing?" And the expression of vague un
easiness again appeared on Col. Dayton
round, rosy face. 'Just step into tn
office a minute, anyway. The clerk
got a letter that was sent up after 20
left this morning. You didn't tell u
where your correspondence should b
forwarded to, so we were in something
| of q puzzle to decide" The rest @