The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-07-21

the top of the steps which led down to the river.
 s'Ill look at it closer,' he said.
 'Itn be fun to stand and watch the
 dirty stuff sweep on to the sea-
 He went down the granite steps
 which led to the river, and crept un-
 der the barrier that was placed half
 way down. It felt much colder as
 he came close to the water, and the
 sudden roll of the river sounded
 awesome. A few steps from the bot
 tom he stopped.
 'If there was any good in living"
 he said. "But there isn't. What lies
 before me? am hopeless, pur-
 poseless, whisky-sodden fool. There's
 nothing to live for"
 | He went nearer the river. l His attention was drawn to a
 shapeless something which the river had swept to the bottom step, and
 which, as the tide receded, had left lying there. He went closer to it
 and examined it.
 It was the dead body of a man. He turned quickly and retraced his
 steps, and then stopped. He's had the pluck to do it,' he muttered; "he must have thrown
 himself in farther up the river. The 1 tide has washed him there and left I r.; -k~ IzI r
 der who he is?''
 l He went down again and looked at
 the gruesome thing lying there. He lay in the shadow of-the bridge, and 1 'I wonder who he is,'' repeated Leicester.
 | Almost mechanically, and with
 steady hand, he struck a match and
 examined the body.
 ''It might have been me-" he nut
 tered. About my own age and build
 His clothes are good, too I suppose | this thing was what is called a gen.
 tleman.'' He laughed quietly and | grimIy. sort of gruesome curiosity l'possessed him, and a wide fancy flashed into his mind. q wonder if
 he's left any mark of his identity ?"
 he said, whereupon he lit another
 match and made a closer eXamina-
 ton. Yes, the things hands belong | ed to what was once a man of leis- | tire. It is true they were disco1ored
 and swollen, but they had been care | fully manicured. Without a shudder he examined the pockets. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, in them mot even a pocket Handkerchief. The shirt was fastened at the waist l by a pair of gold sleeve-links, but
 they bore no marks of any sort. He unfastened the links and looked at I the inside of the cuffs, but there was
 no name written on them. He fast
 ened them again. He examined the
 without name. Evidently the suicide
 had taken trouble to leave no traces
 of his identity behind. l He took another look at the face |
 he had been in the water a long time. It was the face of young
 man, as far as he could judge, be-
 tween thirty and forty. It was clean
 shaven, too, just as his own was. It
 was true it was much distorted and
 disclored; evidently the poor wretch
 had been in the water for days. l Almost mechanically he took out
 his handkerchief and wiped his
 hands. The light was bright enough
 to show him that his own name was
 in the corner.
 l "It might be me, if might be me-"
 he repeated again and again. | There was a sort of fascination in
 the thought.
 | eff twenty-four hours ago, or for ty-efght hours ago, had thrown my self into the river, and ever since had been rolled about by the muddy
 waters, should be like that, just | like that Only he is nameless, there are no means of identifying him. Well, what's the odds?'' | He started, as though some, one l had struck him.
 "Why shouldn't it be?" In moment he saw the possibiIi- ties of the thought.
 'Yes, why shouldn't it? Tomor- row morning some one will come l apwn these steps, and then the police | will take the poor wretch to mor- tuary, after which there will be the | usual fasco of an inquest. As there are no marks by which to identify | him, hosts of stupid questions will be | asked. After that-he will be for | gotten, unless some one comes to | claim him. But why shouldn't I be- come-?'
 His eyes flashed with new light | He was no longer cold and calm. He was eager, excited.
 He listened eagerly. All was sil- ent, save for rumbling noise which he heard some distance away. He felt his pockets carefully. Yes, here l was an old letter; it would do per- fectly. He soaked it in the muddy waters of the river and crumpled it.