The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-12-24
MANY a SLIP.

6cOup, q byplcal american, Dread SD0ui-
dered, tall, neatly dressed.
s. you're an attorney, then?'' he said,
addressing me.
YES, ! ana, worse luck"
nAhi Business slack, thengn
ANo, not that exactly, but it's hum
drum work at the best; not exciting
enough. Now a man like you is meeting
with fresh experiences every day, and
1ife's not ran in a groove and tied up in
red tape
Van Scoup thought a moment, then he
looked over at me in a critical sort of way.
d yop want a real, live, exciting sort
of job; no red tape about itg'
Lets hear about il, / replied.
well, I've made my pile, SO It's not
much consequence to me, but there's one
man on the face of Gods earth tha if
/ could only lay my hands on I'd DO
worth another $5D, 600. If you can hunt
him down anywhere, III pay you we'll"
Whats he like? How docs he moan 80
much to you? When was he seen last2'' I
exclaimed, as fast as / could.
ssIIl answer that last right od-he's the
dead image Of me, as like as the halves of a
split pea-what you call over here my
double"
DIV INV odu you See tut iHoucy from
him? It's not a criminal offense to be q
mans double"
"You find the man, and he'll know
right of whether I'm going TO get the
dollars or not.
"But does he differ from you in MOTH
ingg'
aWell, that's the most extraordinary
thing in the whole bag of tricks, for he's
got his initials tattooed on the soles OF his
feet"
"What.''I exclaimed.
"Yes, on the soies of his feet. It's a
ticklish job, / admit"
Van Scoup entertained US with a long
rigmarolc as to how he had only to find
this double, whom he knew to be in Lon
don, and to produce him in New York to
have him convicted of an impudent fraud
by which he had absolutely got immense
sums of money by ~personating Van Scoup
in several places in the States.
OF course i never gave the matter a mo-
ment's consideration until one night I
felt / should like to haye q Turkish bath.
and SO found myself in Northumberland
avenue luxuriating in true eastern fashion.
! had not been in one of the hot rooms
long before 7 saw the big, burly form of
the American coming through the doors.
I rose from the marble slab to great HIM.
well, Van Scoup, this is a queer place
to meet you. Why, we're dining together
tomorrow evening""
$50 we are, but that's no reason why
we shouldn't enjoy ourselves together to-
night, Is its"
s'Of course not.
He took one of the wooden lounge chairs
beside tho marble slab on which / was ex-
tended at full length and we had a very
interesting conversation
1--WE not found your double yet, " Isaid.
ssHaye you seen or heard of him?"
ono, I've not. nut you wouldn't ex-
pect to find him he.e, would yous"
1 la%ughingly replied: mo, perhaps not.
OF course you would be able to SEQ his feet
hero, wouldn't your"
He laughed. .Ah, so yen would Never
thought of that. ought to have had 9
private detective put On at every bath in
London"
I suggested, ut wouldn't have been a
bad plan ii it was worth tho trouble
"Oh, it's worth the ~trouble!''
Time passed on, and my companion was
the first to announce his intention Of be-
ing shampooed, and left for the cooler
room.
| staid a little longer than anticipated,
and was rather annoyed at finding "A con-
siderable rush on the ~shainpooers, so that
possibly | was not undergoing that de-
iightful process Of being thumped and
banged about till quite 30 minutes after
my friend had left me. Shampooers are
very communicative sort of men, and tho
one operating upon me was no exception
to the rule.
.sThat's q fine piece of tattooing work
on your chest" / said, looking.at an Inn
mense design covering lis whole chest, a
c~rucifxion in fact.
Eyes, it's about as good as you'll see In
q days march, but it's a silly game to
play with yourself; it gives you no end of
pain at tho time, and it doesn't give you a
chance IL ever time 60 bad with you.n
His words seemed to burst upon me
with a new thought. a splendid idea,
better thai the plan of Van Scoup's of
having private detectives at the baths
ask all the s~hampooers. So ! asked:
II suppose sometimes some Of the bath
ers themselves have been tatooed?'t
"Oh, heaps Of 'em, especially those that
haye traveledr'
aSeen any lately?" / asked.
nsWby, there's never q day passes with
out seeing some of 'em. Only the turn but
ono before you-a big American he was
be bad been tattooed on the soles of his
feet"
"WLatlv / exclaimed, jumping up
and almost running out of the shampoo
ing room, regardless of being in puris nat
uralious and that my head n eyes were
covered with soapsuds.
"stay a momant, STRIP the man ex-
claimed, but / was not to be stopped. A
sort of frantic frenzy seemed to take me as
/ dashed from the s~hampooing room. slip
ped accidentally into the plunge bath,
SWAN to the other end, seized a huge
white sheet from the astonished attendant
and rushed inadly up the stairs to the
cooling rooms.
sThe man with the tattoo marks on the
soles Of his feett' / exclaimed. aWhere
is he? Where is hep
BY this time my curious appearance had
attracted considerable attention, when q
Small boy attendant ran up. d you
mean a tall gentleman, with black hair
and a tuftof hair on his chik like gcats"
"That's the man!'' / AMIDST shrieked.
ssWeil, sir, he's gone. IN went almost
as soon as he camo up from the hot room.
He said he couldn't stop, and he told me
to say that If any one asked he had forgot
ten an appointment n would not be at
the dinner party tomorrow
dina6 tha payf evaninp with nv Agnnr-