第21章

Idon’tliketotalkaboutmyappearance，butI’msoconfoundedplainthatpeoplerememberme。Whycouldn’tIhavehadoneofthoseputtyfaceswhichdon’tmeananything?Itwouldhavebeenadeucedsightmoreconvenient。””You’vedoneverywellasitis。””ButIwanttodobetter。Iwanttodeceivehimtohisface。He’sclever，thissameBrotherson，andthere’sglorytobegotinmakingafoolofhim。Doyouthinkitcouldbedonewithabeard?I’veneverwornabeard。WhileI’msettlingbackintomyoldtrade，I

canletthehairgrow。””Do。It’llmakeyoulookasweakaswater。It’llbeblonde，ofcourse。””Andsilkyandstraggling。Charmingadditiontomybeauty。Butit’lltakehalfaninchoffmynose，andit’llcovermymouth，whichmeansalotinmycase。Thenmycomplexion！Itmustbechangednaturally。I’llconsultadoctoraboutthat。Nosortofmake-believewillgowiththisman。Ifmyeyeslookweak，theymustreallybeso。IfIwalkslowlyandspeakhuskily，itmustbebecauseIcannothelpit。Icanbeartheslightinconvenienceoftemporaryill-healthinacauselikethis；andifnecessarythecoughwillbereal，andtheheadachepositive。”Sweetwater！We’dbettergivethetasktoanotherman-tosomeoneBrothersonhasneverseenandwon’tbesuspiciousof?””He’llbesuspiciousofeverybodywhotriestomakefriendswithhimnow；onlyalittlemoresowithme；that’sall。ButI’vegottomeetthat，andI’lldoitbybeing，temporarily，ofcourse，exactlythemanIseem。Myhealthwillnotbegoodforthenextfewweeks，I’msureofthat。ButI’llbeamodelworkman，neatandconscientiouswithjustasuspicionofdashwheredashisneeded。

Heknowstherealthingwhenheseesit，andthere’snotafellowlivingmorealivetoshams。Iwon’tbeasham。I’llbeit。You’llsee。””Butthedoubt。Canyoudoallthisindoubtoftheissue?””No；Imusthaveconfidenceintheend，andImustbelieveinhisguilt。Nothingelsewillcarrymethrough。Imustbelieveinhisguilt。””Yes，that’sessential。””AndIdo。IneverwassurerofanythingthanIamofthat。ButI’llhavethedeuceofatimetogetevidenceenoughforagrandjury。That’splainlytobeseen，andthat’swhyI’msodeadsetonthebusiness。It’ssuchaneventoss-up。””Idon’tcalliteven。He’sgotthestartofyoueveryway。Youcan’tgotohistenement；thejanitortherewouldrecogniseyouevenifhedidn’t。””NowIwillgiveyouapieceofgoodnews。They’retohaveanewjanitornextweek。Ilearnedthatyesterday。Thepresentoneistooeasy。He’llbeoutlongbeforeI’mreadytoshowmyselfthere；

andsowillthewomanwhotookcareofthepoorwasherwoman’slittlechild。I’dnothaveriskedhercuriosity。Luckisn’tallagainstus。HowdoesMr。Challonerfeelaboutit?””Notveryconfident；butwillingtogiveyouanyamountofrope。

Sweetwater，heletmehaveabatchofletterswrittenbyhisdaughterwhichhefoundinasecretdrawer。Theyarenottoberead，orevenopened，unlessagreatnecessityarises。TheywerewrittenforBrotherson’seye-orsothefathersays-butsheneversentthem；

tooexuberantperhaps。Ifyoueverwantthem-Icannotgivethemtoyouto-night，andwouldn’tifIcould，-don’tgotoMr。Challoner-youmustneverbeseenathishotel-anddon’tcometome，buttothelittlehouseinWestTwenty-ninthStreet，wheretheywillbekeptforyou，tiedupinapackagewithyournameonit。Bytheway，whatnameareyougoingtoworkunder?””Mymother’s-Zugg。””Good！I’llreme

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