The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1896-09-03

II am not SO sure O1 Iual, 10"
turned, slowly; "searchers are only HUI
man, after all, and possibly a most
simple trick has deceived them. Is
there any means by which Renshaw
could bk watched from a room above p
"Curiously enough" replied Mr..
Vincent, "there happens to be .
skylight in room IS. Perhaps you nos
ticsd it when you were there? Through
that skylight you would have ample
opportunity of seeing how he employs
himself"
Every WE'LL" said, ut is no use of
my watching him now, as he will, OF
course, lie on his guard. In a weeks
time will return. Meantime, you will.
of course, keep your own counsel, and let
no inkling as to my visit leak out in
the place.
He treasured me heartily on this
point, and then we shook hands and
parted.
A week later, I took up my position
above the skylight, and watched tho
young assayer closely.
I must confess that he did nothing
whatever of a suspicious nature. He
pursued his work calmly and method
ically, showing himself to be very
Industrious workman.
He had a habit or manuerism which
seemed to me rather strange in so young
a man. It might be natural, or it 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 a mannerism OF
Henry Irving, and thought it possible
that Renshaw might be bit ctage-
struck, and had consciously or uncon-
sciously adopted the mannerism of the
great actor.
Throughout the day stood in my
uncomfortable position, eliciting MOTH
ing. At five o'clock the esta blishment
closed, and came down from my perch,
and went straight to Mr.. Vincent's
room.
"Mr. Vincent" said, my search has
been useless so far. am now going
round to Renshaw's place of residence,
and I want you to give me his address
and invent some pretext for keeping
him here fer, say, half an hour while I
pursue my Investigations"
''Very WE'LL" he replied, promptly;
and then, ringing a bell, he told the
messenger who answered it to dctain
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 a slip OF
paper.
Jumping into a hanson, drove az
fast as the cab would take me to %,
Acacia Villas, Brixton, where Renshaw
lodged. Arrived there I presented my
card, and having sufficiently overawed
the landlady by the magic name ct de
tective," I was ushered up into Rem.
shaw's room and left alone. had, of
course, cautioned the woman against
giving him the slightest hint when he
came in of my visit.
Then I examined the room closely.
In one Of the drawers found collec-
ton Of tradcs1nen's bills, which proved
clearly that my 'bird" had been going
it for some time past. One of the bills
rather astonished me, for It was for q
bottle of aniline hair-dye.
"What on earth should he want to
dye his hair for?" I pondered-and
then it flashed upon me like lightning
stroke that Renshaw's auburn hair had
never seemed to me to be quite genu-
inc. But why should he desire to
change its color?
AS I stood thinking, heard his step
on the stairs. In a moment had DART
ed behind q screen, which, fortunately,
happened to be standing in corner
Of the room, and waited for his entry.
He came in h,lrriedly and sat down
on the bed. Then he looked in his
water can and found it empty.
He went to the door and called out:
"AIrs. Martin. I wish you would send
up some water at once. You know I
ALWAYS like to have a wash directly
get back"
"Funny thing, this desire for cleanli-
ness" I thought. II saw him wash his
hands at five o'clock tonight before
leaving the assaying-room. He is quite
fanatical on the subject of soap and
water"
Up came the servant in a moment,
carrying with her a 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
tonishment. 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, it must be discovered
now. I 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
ming the basin and its contents.