The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-22
Mr.. MARSHALL'S DOpPELCANGER.
8Y II. L. WELLS.
con,rLghled. So. by II. G. well..

( ar's study at all on Christmas Eve. that
the thing was an absolute impossibility,
that, in fact, about 1l:30 half-an-hour be-
fore the appariuou that is, ne had been
picked up helplessly drunk by some char
table neighbors about couple of hum
dred yards from the Seven Thorns, car
ried the whole mile and a half to his
own home, carried into his own kitchen.
aud dumped down there at the very mos
meut when his almost equally inebriated
/ doDpelganger was insulting the vicar
/ three-quarters OF a mile away.
] tested every link in the chain of evil
[ dence, as l thought ana not a link failed.
Mrs Marshall told me how she had gone
to bed being tired, and how when the
6ood man failed to appear after 1920 she
mad grown ANXIOUS and at last, hearing
voices outside. had shiVered out of bed
ana gone 10 the window. A Mr.. Ted Apps
two brothers named Durgan, one a black
smith and the other matchmaker, ana
Il Mr.. Hetherington, baker, were walk
| ing in leisurely and vOluminous man
ner along the road, singing as they walk
ed. She knew Mr. Apps. and opened the
window ana called to him. She asked
him whether he had seen Marshall.
At thar the little party stopped and in
terrogated one another. They all dis
tinctly remembered Marshall being at the
Seven Thorus and until she called their
attention to the matter had had a vague
impression that he was sti1, conviyially,
with them. Her wifelV anxiety being only
to evident. and they fun of that feeling of
mutual helpfulness chat sim, thank
heaven. distinguishes our homely country
Christmastide, it was natural they should
offer to return for him.
law RI NIz Marshall" they cried one
after the other, in a reassuring voice, and
| turned ana making the night cheerful with
Marshall's name, returned round the long
Ind
All We're seasonably inebriated, and no
doubt they were now scattered distantly
and now in an amiable knot together as
they reelcd along calling after Marshall;
but all distinctly remember what was
happening at the time.
! nave deliberately verified the story from
all four of them. Everything was an ex-
plicit as evidence could be "Twarn't mart
hun Yards OFF Sen Thorns," said the
blacksmith Durgan, that us found en-.
There e was with is ed agenst tn old
fence and his blessed ovid white legs
il was Mr.. Marshalls weakness invariably
to wear a peculiarly light variety of cor
durOy trousers-"a stickin' art-jes' clip
less e was. 'Ad t. carry en- every blessed
yard us did e wus bad I tell 'ee."
The others cOrroborated exactly Mar
shalls speech, they agreed. was incoher-
ent--shapeless, i'm fact. Had he been able
to surmount one impossibiity and get
up to the Wears study it would have
been equally impossible for him to have
articulated curse OF that they were all
convinced. And | imagine that the pro-
cess of carrying him home along the dark
road must have been a pretty severe test
Of visibility
Didn't you drop him?" I asked of the
elder Durgan
"Oh, we dropped e." said Durgan re-
assuringly. we dropped en- right
'nough. And lord what job we did ave,
a picking Of en- up. 10 be sure" And
he proceeded to give me a detailed mar
rative, as he remembered it, of the en-
tire journey
Consequent upon Mr. MarshaIrs inca
pacity TO walk, Mrs. Marshall had to come
down and open the door in order that
they might carry him in. But, being in
a deshabille that she considered unbecom-
ing. she stipulated that they should not
enter until she had had time to retire up
stairs again. As they came In she held
candle over the banisters and directed
them whore to deposit their burden Mr.
Apps, being in festive mood. then de-
manded drinks round. but the others be
ing soberer, oVerruled him. and after they
had retired she descended and locked the
front door. AfterWard it would seem that
Mr. Apps returned hammered at the door
and demanded drinks again Twice or
three times she said she was alarmed i'm
this way and then Mr. Apps apparently
abandoned his quest
She laid great stress on the aggressive
behavior of Mr.. Apps. on account of the
trouble about the missing sausages and
mince pie to which ] shall presently al
Jude. As Marshall rarely drank and as
Mrs. Marshall was person of refined
tastes, with womanly horror of an in
toXicated man, she did not 20 down to
him In the kitchen until the early morn
ing, and then she found him. stin i'm a
drnk-sodden sleep, upon the hearthrug
with a pool of melted snow about him
And there. what one may cali the case
of the alibi ends. Strong that case indis-
putaby as, the reader must admit.
Now here We have an extraordinary con-
tradicuon between two perfectly credible
stories. on the one hand two clergymen
and one sceptic and even a scoffer at
psychic experts witness that Marshall was
in one place, and on the other, four indis-
putably honest villagers and the mans own
wife testify as emphatically that he was in
quite another place. / sifted and weigh
ed every scrap Of evidence, and could see
no way to reconcile the two except by
taking the view Mr.. Burwash took. ana
admitting belief In doppelgangers. To
that effect l finally reported TO the socie-
". Altogether ] gave the business "A clear
seven days.
only one alternative to that aequiescence
seemed possible to me. and that was that
the vicar and his curate, IN spite of the
almost vehement assurance of Mr.. Bur
wash, had not seen Marshall az all [
spent three days seeking colorado sub
| suute for Marshall, a person who seen
casually might have been mistaken for
him, and not one could I find He had "a
nouceably long nose. a fresh complexion.
and large mouth. Even in his dress he
was distinctive. In view Of The fact that
| che light OF tho Wears study fell fully on
| the face OF the apparition. tho
| mistaken Identity notion failed hopelesslv
as an explanation. IL was dopne ganrer
| or nothing Doppelgaugcr. 10 my mind
seemed the more credible climax I'm the
| whole course of my career as Il psyt.his I'M
| quircr, ] had certainly never come upon
/ any occult PHENOMENON so absolutely a
/ tried and proven thing
! ] ask the reader TO stop az this stage 20
recapitulatc the case as I have stated a.
| and TO consider whether the proof does NOT
| seem 90 be practically complete. No one
| 40 all familiar with modern psychieal re-
| search VIII md any discredlt 20 the STORY
/ in the absolute carelossutss and PURPOSE
4 lessnoe- of The appearance.
/ ] need scarcely say what hearty vol
] como society which "A LAD. t.t.tr..ff.. D