The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-04-24

tits secret kept By himself and Nh
Denton from those who had q right .
know 1t.
MacKnight reached the city where
the Dentons lived too late to see his
f3ancee till morning. Before going to
bed he sat smoking in the lounging
room Of the hotel where he stopped. II
was not a first class house BY any
means. He had chosen 1t because It
was the only hosiery that was not at
a considerable distance from the Den
tons. While he was smoking a nan 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 a striking re-
semblance. Their complexion. hair.
height. build were the same. Their
clothes were entirely different, Mac
Knights being plain, those Of the other
fashy.
The man passed out of the room, and
soon after MacKnight went upstairs
and to bed.
He was awakened by a 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 a chair on which he
had left his clothes and began putting
them or He was so ratified that he did
not for a few moments notice that the
clothes were not those he had taken OF.
Then he saw that the suit was the ex-
act counterpart Of the one worn by the
man he had seer 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 himselfa and MacKnight,
had conceived the idea of throwing the
officers on a false scent. The supposed
criminal could easily have learned the
number of his room. opened the door
with a 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, MacKnight 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 q
police station and locked in a cell.
To be placed in such a position only
a few days before his expected wed
ding was, to say the least, distressing.
Mcknight, who had had no expert
ence in criminal law, did not doubt
that he could prove his identity a.
soon as given an opportunity. What
he dreaded was that the episode would
strengthen the doubts concerning him
held by his fiancee's 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 cas- 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 a cab. he drove at once to his
dancee's.
He had been expected much earlier
and his not coming had ~occasioned
some worry. He proposed to give his
explanation to LeOna privately, and
his not accounting for his delay at once
made a bad impression on the rest Of
the family. AS soon as the young
couple were left alone he told his
bride to be the story Of his arrest. She
listened eagerly and at his conclusion
seemed much detected. Her parents
had not ceased to hold up to her the
risk she ran in marrying a man she
knew so little about, who had NO fam
lily connections and whose childhood
he had failed to account for. She
dreaded lest they would now refuse t.
permit the wedding to come of as had
been arranged.
The pair, after consultation, Joined
Mr.. and Mrs. Denton and made a clean
breast of what had. occurred. 1t wal
evident that both the father and moth
er regarded the matter as a confirma'
ton of their fears. MacKnight waa
informed that the wedding day must
be put of indefinitely, by which he
understood that it would not take place
Mt all with Mr.. and Mrs. Dent0n's con
sent. After further consultation be
tween the lovers, they agreed that the
wedding as arranged must be abandon
ed. Leona was too distressed to tall
about the future, but she surely would
not go back on her lover without thu
best of reasons.
The next morning MacKnight went