El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-06
The MilIiOnaire's Double
The HeraId's Daily
Short Story

1t would have been an uncanny tale
20 listen to, even in q room at home,
lace 10 face with mailman Here II
sounded like story, a Joke, some
thing unreal.
The dark night and the mighty
ocean, the waves breaking against
the sides, the vessel creaklng and
groaning, the sound of the propeller,
Life itself is really so, that all that
is needed is a courageous man to ask
the questions Who knows if the
whole thing is not a dream%'
Anderson" somebody called from
the stOkerOOm below.
Aye. aye, sir" said the man, and
went down the ladder
The captain and I were discussing
this story late in the evening. II Is
never pleasant to have a mailman
aboard, and the captain sent for the
first engineer to warn him.
The engineer slowly mixed himself
a hot rum while he listened. He was
a silent man with a sColid face l can
still see him, as the captain offered
him a cigar, selecting one from the
box, bit off the end and squeezed II
between his clumsy fingers
I know all about il" he said, the
man has told me the story himself"
Then you know that the man Is
mad" said the captain.
Well I am not so sure OF that"
We stared at one smother, the cap
tain and l. The engineer was staring
into his glass, as If he were ashamed
and did not dare raise his eyes
i have seen pictures Of that man
Mac Whirter in New York." he said,
and they looked exactly ike the man
we have on board. and everything he
tells about his office and his business
jibes with what has been IN the pa
pers."
"Of course" I interrupted, "our man
has been reading the papers and that
is what has turned his head"
why, certainly" said the captain
AL New York has been talking about
the fellow that he looked like him
and that has started the idea that ne
is the millionaire
Wei. captain" said the engineer,
''yOu know there are more things
Thank YOU said the captain, II
is bad enough TO have maolllan on
board, but when ones first engineer
begins to quote Shakesp ere
Just then the door was torn open
and against the background Of the
darkness we saw the face of Mac Whir-
Uer-Anderson-
me captain jumped to his feet.
What do you wantT he asked
sternly.
The man came in slowly and care
fully locked the door behind him
i only want to tell you that am
waking up now.
What are you doing?"
II am waking up. You see, when
one is used to being a multimillion-
aire a stOker's job is rather tough
Then there is also this
that the doctors are trying all kinds
of tricks to wake me up. moment
ago, one OF them jabbed pin into my
left arm. 1t is not bit funny
What do you say, master the
captain asked.
The engineer mumbled something
to the effect that this was rather too
much for the brain
Then the captain turned to give the
man a piece Of his mind, but he had
disappeared. though we all knew that
the door had not been opened again
We rushed out. on deck he was
not there. The whole boat was
searched, but there was no trace Of
himself nor Of his clothes and papers.
The next morning the captain made
this entry in the log book:
May 6th at $3.50 in the evening the
stOker, Lars Anderson, Of Nyborg,
disappeared He must have jumped
overheard while temporarily insane.
1 have told this tale a hundred
times. How We reached Antwerp att
er a rough passage and how we found
had died in New York on the 9Th OF
May, at s in the evening. the very
nom ent when our man had disap-
peared, allowing for the difference in
time.