The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1896-10-23

my watching him now. as he viii. OF
course, be on his guard. In a weeks
time / viii return Meantime. You viii.
of course. keep your own counsel. and let
no inkling as to my visit leak out in
the place.
He reassured me heartily on this
point, and then we shook hands and
parted.
\ week later, I took up my position
above the skylieht. and watched tine
young assayer closely
1 must confess that he did nothing
whatever of a suspicious nature He
pursued his work calmly and method
ically, showing himself to be a very
industrious workman.
He had n habit or mannerisu which
seemed TO me rather strange in so vCung
a man. 1t might be natural. or IL might
he affected, but every now and again
he would pause in his work. and pass
his long. nervous hands through his
bushy, auburn hair. as though trying
to collect his thoughts. It reminded
me very forcibly of n mannerism Of
Henry Irving. and / thought IL possible
that Renshaw might be a bit rtage-
struck, and had consciously or uncon-
sciously adopted the mannerism Of the
great actor.
Throughout the day stood in nv
uncomfortable position. eliciting moth
ing. At five o'clock the establishment
closed. and ! came down from my perch.
and went straight to Mr. Nincent's
room.
Mr.. Vincent I said, my search has
been useless so far. / am now going
round to Renshaw's place OF residence,
and 1 want you to give me his address
and invent some preteXt for keeping
him here for, say. half an hour while |
pursue my Investigations"
Very well,'' he replied. promptly;
and then. ringing a bell, he told the
messenger who answered it TO ietain
Renshaw and not let him go until he
had seen him. The messenger having
departed, Mr.. Vincent wrote the ad-
dress of the young man on slip of
paper.
Jumping into a hanson, 1 drove as
fast as the cab would take me to y,
Acacia Villas. Brixton, where Renshaw
lodged. Arrived there I presented my
card. and having sufficiently overayved
the landlady by the magic name cf de
tective," / was ushered up into Rem
shaw's room and left alone. I had, OF
course, cautioned the woman against
giving him the slightest hint when he
came in of my visit.
Then ] examined the room closely
In one Of the drawers found a coIlec-
tion of tradesmen's bills. which proved
clearly that my bird had been going
it for some time past One Of the bills
rather astoniShed me. for il was for a
bottle of aniline hair-dye.
What on earth should he want 70
dye his hair for2" l pondered-and
then it flashed upon me like lightning
stroke that RenShaw's auburn hair had
never seemed to me to be quite cenu-
inc. But why should he desire TO
change its color?
As I stood thinking, I heard his step
on the stairs. In moment | had dart
ed behind a screen. which. fortunately.
happened TO be standing in a corner
OF the room, and waited for his entry.
He came in hurriedly and sat down
on the bed Then he looked in his
water can and found il empty
He went To the door and called out:
Mrs Martin / wish You would send
up some water at once. You know /
always like to have a wash directly ]
get back"
Funny thing, this desire for cleanli-
ness / thought. Il saw him wash his
hands at five o'clock tonight before
leaving the asSayiDg-room- He II quite
fanatical on the subject OF soap and
water
Up came the servant in a moments
carrying with her huge can. Rem
shaw thanked her. and having set the
can down, he locked the door, and made
preparations for washing.
He filled the basin. and then put his
head under water for about 40 seconds,
slowly raising it at the end OF that
time.
He repeated the process again and
again. to my intense amazement and as
tonishnent. OF course. there was moth
ing strange in a mans bathing his head,
but when the process was gone through
dozen times, surprise was perfectly
natural.
But. feeling that if the secret was ever
to be discovered, il must be discovered
now. 1 seized the opportunity. when
RenShaw's head was turned towards the
window. of stealing out from my hid
ing-place behind the screen and exam
inng the basin and its contents
Good heavensl In an instant the
truth flashed on me: the water was full
of gold dust washed from his head. Our
suspicious had been correct, and Rem
shaw was indeed the thief.
In a moment l had him firmly in my
grip.
II arrest you, Mark Renshaw,' cried,
ION a charge of theft I've had nice
hunt to run you down. but L reckon I've
done the trick at last
He turned as white as death
'Tbe games up he said, hoarSely:
''but il was good game while il lasted
You can take me now whenever you
like"
L could not help admiring his self
possession. / saw the reason for the
hair-dye and the reason for his passing
his hands frequently through his hair.
The dve had been used to make his lair
of similar color to the gold dust. and
when he put his hands to his head. he
quietly left a pinch of dust in the hair
1t was a very clever device. but it was
played out now.-Tit-Bits.
Taste and Smell.
Phys.ologIsts have long known that
many sensations ordinarily ascribed to
taste are in reality due to smell, but this
fact has lately been made clearer than
before by the Investigations of German
.E,a nIF -.