The evening times., 1898-04-19
STERLING.
Built like a watch"

! Gus situation after ALL and / was not
| prepared with any solution of the mys-
| terry. Had i got into the wrong house?
| No; had distinctly seen the number on
| the door and, besides, everything | had
! seen inside was familiar-except the
| young lady. Had the people with whom
| had lived moved out and a new family
! come in? II so, why were the carpets,
| the pictures, the everything, left just
| the same as 1 had seen them two
months before? Then, again. this mis-
I taken identity; who was George. whose
reception would have been so cordial?
! That reminded me-George was expect
ed at that hour: might not he yet come?
/ fairly trembled win apprehension as
/ thought of this phase of the affair.
Yet what had / to fear? The mistake
was not mine. / had not even opened
! the door, if burglarious intent were
charged. / was fairly let in by one OF
the family, and had followed her in
structionS TO the letter. There was go
ing to be a row soon; that was very evil
dent, so / decided not to undress, but
TO lie down with my clothes on and
await further developments.
They came, in the course of about
half an hour, during which time / had
fallen into doze and was dreaming of
being arrested for housebreaking.
gentle tap aroused me and a female
voice said:
Are yez awake Mr.. George?"
Yes" said l, opening the door;
what's the matter?"
A little maid servant stood there, with
big round eyes. which looked as If their
owner had just been awakened. She
uttered q suppressed Shrek on seeing
me, and exclaimed:
"Oh! il isn't Mr.. George at all"
Yes, it is said l. BE quiet; what
do you want?''
You are TO go for the doctor Mrs.
Mason had bee took worse. and Miss
| Lou bid Inc ask you to so for DIR.
James"
Mrs Mason" said I, interrogatively.
Your Aunt Annie" said the girl, eye
ing me very curiously.
oh" said l. 'All right. I'll go~im-
mediately. Was there no one else?" /
hazarded, hoping to get a clew.
Sure, there's no man in the house
but yourself" she replied. | dismissed
her saying / would go at once. ] hap
pened TO know that DR.. James was at
tached to the druggists shop on the
next corner, so l crept silently down?
stairs, taking my little gripsack with
me, for l said to myself: Perhaps this
is an opportunity 10 escape which Prov
Just as l was taking my Overcoat
from the hall tree, l heard a latchkey
in the door
That's George" thought 1, "and
what viii he say TO me?"
| knew that the door was locked and
that he would ring the bell on finding it
SO. For the first time in my life had
little presence of mind and acted
without hesitation upon the thought
hot to I drEy Ia lG- 10
bolt and threw open the door with a
great appearance Of haste. exclaiming:
George, your aunt has had a stroke
of apoplexy or something, and / am go
ing for the doctor"
Hey! What's that?" said the man
at the door whom l now perceived to be
a pOrtly gentleman of sixty or SO and
not in the least like me-
Hold on. young man." said he,
grasping my arm in no very gentle
manner; this looks a little thin To me.
Who are you and what are you doing
with that coat and grip?"
l. as usual, had not word to say.
Come in here said the old gentle
man. forcing me back into the hall.
Well attend to your case.
My dear sir" faltered I. as soon as
/ could speak" there is some mistake.
will ex-"
Yes, i should say there was a mis-
take. You rascal! You thought there
were lot of defenseless women in the
house and took the opportunity to do a
little sneak -thieving."
Whereupon he dropped me out onto
the steps again and looked up and down
the street for policeman. This alter
cation, as may be supposed. made quite
a little noise and we heard remOnstrat-
ing voices at the head of the stairs, but
no one came down. / suppose the only
reason the women did not scream was
the fear that it might awaken Aunt
Annie" My captor still held me tight
ly and grumbled something about a po-
liceman never being in sight when
wanted"
Il suppose / must let you 60" said
he at last, for | can't take you to the
station myself: but put down that grip
and coat and be off; and thank your
lucky stars that / am too tired to be
bothered with you"
But" said /. in desperation, cit is my
coat and grip: and if you will kindly
take your hands off me and give me a
chance to speak / will tell you who L
am and how / got into this absurd
mess"
He looked at me sternly for moment |
and then released me and closed the |
door so that the rest of the interview |
might take place on the steps.
Then the most ludicrous thing of all |
occurred. A window was raised in the |
second floor of the next house and a |
Juvenile voice called: PA, is that you?" |
The old gentleman started, looked up |
at the childs face in the window, then |
at the number on the door. and then at |
me with a very shamefaced expression. |
saying:
Young man, l beg your pardon a |
thousand times. / am an old jackass, |
and have come to the wrong house"
1T is all right" said /. too anxious to |
get away to waste my words with him.
George might yet come, and i felt that |
I had had complications enough for one |
night.
/ left word for DR.. James at the drug
gist's and spent the night at the hotel.
II was all explained the next morning
The druggist told me that Mrs. Davies
NV landlady. who rented the house fur
nished. had failed and the house had re-
turned into the possession of the owner
"A maiden lady, who, with her niece
and two servants, now occupied it.
Mrs Mason was her invalid sister, who |
had Just returned from some springs or
other. worse in health than when she
went, and George was nephew to both. /
He was wild young fellow, but rather
attractive in appearance. and a great
favorite with the old ladies. He had
been absent about month and had
grown a beard The resemblance be-
tween us was quite remarkable. j
made his acquaintance later and We /
got to be vers good friends.
Did ever see Miss Lou again? Oh, |
yes. That's Lou singing the baby to |
sleep upstairs.