The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-11-05

and had some Welsh rabbit and had
gone straight 20 bed. About midnight
no had been aroused by n violent
knocking at the door, and on opening
Il had been gruGly told that he was
under arrest. aud that hewas 10 dress
pretty quickly.
Hurried by the officers. he had
hastily dressed himself, protesting
uaeleaaly that the clothes ho was hus.
tied into were not hia, aud was bur.
riad or 10 the station.
mo amount Of cross-questioning
could get him 20 vary or enlarge his
story, nor could he give me the slight.
est reason for his arrest As 20 his
beard, that had easily been explained
in answer 10 o question ofmino. Ow,
ing 10 a slight skin eruption contract.
cd In Egypt, he had Il shaved oiTsome
time ago.
"Iho poyt step was 10 get him bailed
out. This, found, was not 30 easy a
task
"My nonrocognition at first Of my
friend was against him. Tho police
justice next morning protested chat
this prisoner was a confidence man
wanted for various offences, and that
he was a certain Wilcox, alias palvcr,
alias Moroney, and sconingly declared
he would not LEI him out under $4,000
bail.
81 did not stay to argue the matter
ont, but IN less than an hour was back
with couple offriends Of well known
wealth aud standing.
next morning my client was in
state of fever i easily got n certiA-
cate from my physician ezaggerating
the illness.
'He remained in my house aud in
bed for nearly week. During that
time / had found out enough 20 solve
tho mystery to my moral satisfaction,
but not enough TO convince n jury or
even any outsider The solution Of
the mystery was this:
"The man with many aliases had
come by the same train as my friend
Rowley, had registered at the same
hotel and had been assigned a room on
the same narrow corridor. BY some
chance my friend, after supper, had
been given the key Of Mr. Wilcox's
room and had gone straight to bed.
Mr. Wilcox's keen mind, ever bent
on covering up his tracks, on finding
that he had been given the wrong key,
said nothing, examined my friends
yalise, and then the idea evidently
came to him that it would be a good
thing if he could pass out Of the hotel
as Mr.. r. Rowley.
''The probability was that he Row
ley) was in his room. To open the
door was an easy thing for the crook.
Then he must have taken my friends
attire, leaving his in its place. This
effected, he paid his bill as Mr.. Row
ley, saying he was going to catch the
ll.45 p. m. night express for Syracuse
and so vanished.
His resemblance in WilcoX's attire
was so like the photos sent on TO the
people, and so unlike his own photos,
that, with the correspondence, papers,
cards and odds and ends which Wilcox
had either in haste or intentionally,
left in the coat and vest pocket, and
which the police at the station had
seized when they had searched him, I
ahudderingly felt the chances We're all
In favor Of a speedy conviction"
"What did you do?' asked the young
lawyer.
''What did Ido?" you ask. 81 snug
gled him off on boat to Cuba andfor-
feited the bail. He was, as 1 said, a
rich man. 1t was the simplest way
out Of the difficulty and the surest
Still, my client, though perfectly in
| nOcent ia now a fuuitiva from iustire :"