Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-12-23
DAILY SHORT STORY
The Wrong jackson.
TCopyright, 1902, by John Hayden.l

that 1 resemble a man named Jackson,
who used to live here. =
I Resembles, Well. man ought to re-
semble himself. take it,"
'See here l replied, my name is
not Jackson. l was never in this town
before. don't know a soul in the
town"
well. by thunder" bluntly ex-
claimed the man when l finished.
Look here, Jackson, what sort OF
game is this you are playing? Are you
sass enough TO think year has
schanged you so no one here would
know you? There's no occasion for any
skulking. Jim never made a complaint
on the shooting"
B ''And who is Jim?'
Are you sane enough to sign your
name TO a receipt he asked after n
painful pause.
81 hope So"
'Then sign this one. / sold n horse
for you for $3.50 and was to keep S25
of it as commission
He opened wallet and counted
down S125 and handed out receipt
for me to sign.
THAT money belongs to Mr.. Jackson,
and of course l can't take it," l said
The man turned pale as he picked up
the notes and walked out of the room.
He had made the discovery that l was
insane. and he probably feared l would
become violent before he could make
his escape. He went downstairs and
reported his discovery. and half an
hour later when | descended to the
office L found myself an object of curl
n
side to the case. it was on the whole
very annoying and embarrassing.
When it was decided that l was harm
less a dozen or more persons ad-
dressed me as Jackson. l selected four
of the most intelligent. among whom
was d lawyer. "A dded the landlord and
asked them to a conference in my
room. When we had reached there, L
said:
Gentlemen. there seems to be some
thing very queer about all this. l may
resemble man named Jackson, but it
is only resemblance"
Now. see here, Jackson" said the
landlord as he saw that l was losing
my temper. you are among friends.
Some of 'em think you're little off in
the top story but l can't see any signs
of it. Come, now, tell us all about it."
Il have nothing to tell you, except
that you are mistaken. Did this Jack
son have any relatives here?'
They canvassed the matter over and
decided that he had not. Then l asked
where he boarded. and they gave me
the name of Il widow.
VERY well. gentlemen" / said. Il
will go with you to the house of this
widow. and We'll hear what she has to
say. She ought to remember Il man
who boarded with her for two years"
1t was decided that the lawyer and
l should go together, and felt certain
that the woman would instantly solve
the mystery. She had no sooner opened
the door and caught sight of me than
her face was covered with smiles, and
she cried out:
For the lands sake, but if here
isn't Mr.. Jackson. looking rs natural
as an old shoe. Where OH earth have
you been. and why didn't you write to
say | might expect you?"
To say that / was amazed is draw
ing it mild. 1 was knocked out and
sat down in q sort of dream. While |
was in this dazed state the lawyer
if she would have known me in a
crowd and a lot of other questions in
tended to establish my identity beyond
Il doubt. Then he took me by the arm
and walked me out Not a word was
said until we reached my room. where
the men were waiting. Then lie stated
that the woman had positively identi-
fed me-
Gentlemen" l said. after observing
look of sympathy on each ones face.
lit may be possible that my name is
Jackson, and that have been out of
my mind for n year past. The more L
think of it the more l believe I'm
Jackson. If everybody says I'm Jack
son, then l must be-"
"Of course you're Jackson right
enough" replied the landlord.
"See herer' l suddenly shouted as /
was about to give up my identity. This
Jackson had a tailor hereY"
"Oh, yes"
And a shoemaker
"Of course
"Well, now let us go to the tailor
first. He has my measure if I'm Jack
SON."
That's So Come on"
As we entered the shop the tailor
shook hands with me as Jackson, but
it wasn't ten minutes before had won
my case. He had scarcely put his tape
line on my body before he said mis-
take had been made. In no single
point did l measure the same as Jack,
ION, while his arms were three inches
the longer. AT the bootmaker's he
took an eight and | q seven with a
difference in other measurements.
When these things had been settled,
people began to note other discEepan-
cies, and in the course of twenty -four
hours everybody was ready to pro-
nounce it a marvellous coincidence. So
it was, and it went beyond that. While