Evening star., 1922-07-22
The Confidence King
BY Arthur B. Reeve.
One Of The Stars Week End Fiction Series
Each story complete in three installments

itself an animal tissue and acts like
catgut. Part of 1t is also thrown OH
In fact, the sponge initiates what
, happens naturally in the porous net
Gates the tissue to grow. stimulates
it-new blood vessels and nerves as
well as flesh,
I'm another case I know Of, almost
the whole Of the first joint of finger
was crushed of and the doctor was
asked to amputate the stump Of bone
| that protruded. Instead he decided
to educate the tissue to grow out TO
cover 1t and appear like normal
finger. In these cases the doctors
succeeded admirably in giving the
patients new finger-tips without scars
operation. with comparatively llttie
Inconvenience except that absolute
| rest of the hands was required: .,
Ihat Is what happened; gentlemen, en-
concluded Kennedy. That is whs
Mr. Forbes. alias williams. made
trip to Philadelphia to be treated
for crushed flnger-tips. not for the
kick of An automobile engine. he
may have paid the doctors in counter
feits. In reality this man was play
ing game >in which there was IN
deed heavy stake at issue. He was
counterfeiter sought by two gov.
ernments, with the net closing aboul
him. What are the tips of rev
fingers compared with life.. liberty
wealth and a beautiful woman? The
first two sets of prints are dineren.
from the third because they are MADE
by different ger-tips-on the same
man. The very core of the prints
was changed. But the fnger-prlnt
system Is vindicated by the very IN
genuity Of the man who so cleverlF
has contrived to beat it.
Very interesting-to one VINO Is
interested" remarked the stranger
"but what has that to do with De
tanning my Wife and myself. MAXIM IL
US miss our train, and insulting us!
Just this" replied Craig. III you
fingers on this sheet Of paper l tnlnh
can show you an answer
Knight demurred and his wife gre"
hysterical> at the idea, but there was
nothing to do but comply. KENNEDY
glanced at the fourth set OF prints
ago. and smiled. No one said word
Knight or Williams. which was II
He nonchalantly lit a cigarette.
so you say 1 am this Williams, the
counterfeiter?" he asked supeerciliously
"I do" reiterated Kennedy you
are also Forbes"
II don't suppose Scotland Yard has
neglected to furnish you with pho-
tographs and a description OF TINS
Forbes?"
Burke reluctantly pulled out Ber,
tillon card from his pocket and la'"
1T on the table. 1t bore the IRON
face and profile Of the famous coun-
terfeiter as we'll as his measure
mAnts. .
The man picked It up as if. indeed.
It was a curious thing. HIS coomes
nearly convinced me. Surely ne shouIu
this last piece Of evidence. I had heard
however. that the Bertillon system OF
measurements often depended on the
personal equation Of the measurer as
well as on the measured. was he rely
ing on that, or on his difference IN
features?
looked over Kennedy's shoulder at
the card on the table. There was the
! concave nose of the portrait parle eI
, Forbes, as 1t had first been descrined
to U.S. Without looking further IN
voluntarily glanced at the man. although
had need TO do so. I knew that
his nose was the exact opposite OF that
j Of Forbes.
Ingenious at argument as you are"
he remarked quietly. you Will hardy
deny that Knight of Omaha is the exact
opposite Of Forbes Of London. MY nose
ia almost Jewish my complexion is
dark as an Arabs. Still. / suppose
am the sallow. snub-nosed FORBES De
scribed here, inasmuch as l have stolen
Forbes fingers and lost them again by
most preposterous, s,n metnOo noe 10 easily
altered" said Kennedy. "A little picric
acid will do that. The ingenious rogue
Sarcey in Paris eluded the police very
successfully until DR.. Charcot exposed
bin and showed how he changed the
arch Of his eyebrows and the wrinkles
of his face. Much is possible today that
would make Frankenstein and Dr
Moreau look clumsy and antiquated
A sharp feminine voice interrupted.
r. wss TIE woman. who had kept si-
lent up to this time. But 1 have read
in one of the papers this morning
| that a Mr.. Williams was found dead
in an automobile accident up the
u,dsnn Yesterday. remember read
ing it, because I am afraid of acci-
All ewes were now fixed on Ken
nedy, That body" he answered
n,ickly. was body purchased by