The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-02-19
THREE SALES DAILY---O3O A. M, 2:3O AND 7:3O P. M.
MY DOUBLES TROUBLES
BY WALTER HARPER.
1921 SECOND AVENUE.

send him one hundred dollars in bills in letter to Birmingham Nothing had | been heard from him since l was certain that this George Willis was my double, but wondered at the dif- | ference in names. However, I attributed | 1t to an error in the reporter writing the 1 story
 GlancinS at paper I saw in the list | of letters at the postoffice 'unclaimei' ! one addressed to George Willis. | l went to the postoffice and got this letter. It contained one hundred dollars. Along with the money was a note from l Mrs, Williams full of phrases of endear- 1 ment, and begging him to return as socn l as possible, as she would only be happy l when they were made one. ] l shivered. What a mess had gotten 1 myself into! But it was very evident changed his name? He evidently intended | to have her send him his money on va-
 rious excuses and get away from the in- l pending trouble. l naturally looked on
 the married state as one to be carefully l avoided.
 l figured for two days on what moe
 to take next. l wanted the balance of | that money and in a way l felt that by l rights 1t was mine, but did not know ju it | how to go about securing it.
 The idea occurred to me that possibly there was another letter in the office for | George Willis. l hastened to the office
 and on inquiry received two As walked
 away from the window I was conscious
 of being followed by man that I had noticed standing near the general deliv-
 cry window as I approached. As l neared the door of the building I
 was conscious of the quick approach of another man and at once had feeling 1 of uneasiness As I turned to learn the meaning of these movements the first l man laid his hand on my shoulder and T demanded that l consider myself under I arrest.
 Before l could get my breath I was in
 handcuffs and was being hurried away
 to prison, where I learned that I was
 wanted in several places on charges of i bigamy.
 Good ,Lordl Bigamyi The very thing ! l had been running from; the married 1 state, and now I had found myself amaz- ingly much married. They told me there
 were something like a dozen women of
 all grades, shades and degrees of beauty
 on my trail all cleaning to be duly mar
 ried to me under various names and cir
 cumstances. s
 My head grew dizzy as I contemplated
 the trouble ahead and the difficulty
 would have in disprovins the charges If ] l brought my mourning wife forward as
 a witness that would only serve to add
 one more to the long string of difficult ties.' She could only account for three years of my cl>eckered life and only frag-
 ments of those years. I was clearly 'in
 the soup" and all could do was to re- sign myself to fate and face the music | My only hope lay in the possibility of my not being identified. But here I was 1 doomed to disappointment
 1 Next day I was carried to Memphis
 and the word went out that had been
 found. This was the signal for the be- l ginning of trouble and it did not delay in coming. My first caller was a red-headed,
 old-maidish creature as ugly as a mud
 chimney, who ogged me closely and
 swore that I was her husband. I smiled. | l could not help it. The next was an , old widow with hawk-like nose and 1 rasping voice. She railed on me until the | jaier carried her away. She, too, swore that was her second husband I had ! married her in Little Rock two years ago
 and had left her in two weeks with all l her cash.
 There are five more due to arrive to- morrow from various sections of the
 country and the jailer says another batch 1 will be in about the last of the week l Well, they can all have me after mid 1 night