The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1914-04-16
On the Eve of
a Wedding
Mistaken Identity Caused a
Complication
By JOHN Y. HARMED

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Arthur Maclznight left his office at
the conclusion Of business hours and
went to his bachelor apartments with
a light heart He would sleep that
night in those apartments for the last
time. for he was about to be married.
MacKnight's love came at first sight.
He had made flying trip abroad the
summer before, had seen an American
girl in the Kursaal in Lugano, Switzer-
land. had followed her to Lucerne
and had secured an introduction. Aft
er two weeks going about In the
same party he became engaged to her
and the day after his engagement was
obliged to leave her at Montreux to
catch steamer for America.
His fiancee, Miss Leona Denton, re-
manned abroad three months longer.
Her home was in q different city from
that of MacKnight, and since he was
very closely confined to business the
lovers saw very little Of each other.
| Therefore when he succeeded in ar
ranging for a wedding to take place in
| the near future he was made a very
happy man.
Consent that their daughter should
ally herself with man Of whom she
had seen so little and about whose an
tecedents so little was known was
given by Miss Denton's parents with
reluctance. MacKnight had been able
to give no information about his fam
lily, had not relative that he had ever
seen, and his statements about his
childhood were conflicting The truth
was that the poor fellow was a found.
ling, he Knew he was a founding and
shrank from admitting the fact. New
ertheless he finally did so to his fan
Gee. But she who had come to love
him with as much fervor as he loved
her did not dare to communicate the
fact to her parents lest they insist
upon her breaking off the match. Con-
seQuently he was to be married with
this secret kept by himself and Miss
Denton from those who had a right to
know it.
MacKnight reached the city where
the Dentons lived too late to see his
fiancee till morning. Before going to
bed he sat smoking in, the lounging
room of the hotel where he stopped. It
was not a first class house by any
means. He had chosen it because it
was the only hostelry that was not at
a considerable distance from the Den
tons. While he was smoking a man en-
tered the room and looked about him
uneasily. His gaze fell upon Mac
knight, and he seemed surprised. Mac
knight was also surprised. Between
the two men there was striking re-
semblance. Their complexion. hair,
height. build were the same. Their
clothes were entirely different, Mac
Knights being plain, those of the other
f1ashy.
The man passed out Of the room, and
soon after MacKnight went upstairs
and to bed.
He was awakened by knocking at
|, his door. Rising. he opened it, and
there stood a couple of policemen.
They entered the room and directed
MacKnight to dress himself. He asked
what it all meant. but the only infor-
nation he received was that he was
wanted for various offenses. There be-
ing nothing for him to do except to
obey. he turned to chair on which he
had left his clothes and began putting
them on. He was so ratified that he did
not for a few moments notice that the
clothes were not those he had taken off.
Then he saw that the suit was the ex-
act counterpart of the one worn by the
man he had seen in the lounging room.
Gradually it came into his head that
this person had been hunted by the po-
lice and, having noticed the resem-
blance between himselfand MacKnight,
had conceived the idea of throwing the
officers on false scent. The supposed
criminal could easily have learned the
number of his room. opened the door
with skeleton key when all in the
house were asleep. purloined Mac
knights clothes and left his own in
their place.
Holding up the suit he was ordered
to put on. mcknight gave the police
men the above explanation. They look
ed at each other as much as to say,
Have we been fooled?" Then with
out even consulting. they ordered Mac
knight to put on the clothes, first TAX
ing the precaution to go through the
pockets. in which they found articles to
identify the owner with a prominent
criminal The prisoner was taken to a
police station and locked in a cell.
10 be placed in such a position only
few days before his expected we'd
dipg was, to say the least, distressing.
MacKnight. who had had no expert
ence in criminal law, did not doubt
that he could prove his identity as
soon as given an opportunity. What
he dreaded was that the episode would
strengthen the doubts concerning him
held by his fiancees parents and that
they would withdraw their consent to
the marriage.
He spent a night of torture. and the
next morning early sent for an at
torney, who assured him that he could
secure an examination at once and by
giving bail for his appearance when
the case came to trial, he would be lib
Grated. This was done. and before noon
the prisoner, having signed his own
bail bond. was released from custody.
Calling cab, he drove at once to his
tiancee's VI,
real criminal. and he was found peIore
the date fixed for the trial.
But long before this the lovers were
married, for the invitations to the we'd
ding We're not recalled. and it occurred
on the day that had been fixed