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’llremember。YoucanalwayswriteoreventelephonetoTwenty-ninthStreet。I’minconstantcommunicationwiththemthere，andit’squitesafe。””Thanks。You’resuretheSuperintendentiswithme?””Yes，butnottheInspector。HeseesnothingbutthevictimofastrangecoincidenceinOrlandoBrotherson。””Againthescaleshangeven。Buttheywon’tremainso。Onesideisboundtorise。Which?That’sthequestion，Mr。Gryce。”
OPPOSED
TherewasanewtenantintheHicksStreettenement。Hearrivedlateoneafternoonandwasshowntworooms，oneintherearbuildingandanotherinthefrontone。Bothwereonthefourthfloor。Hedemurredattheformer，thoughtitgloomybutfinallyconsentedtotryit。Theother，hesaid，wastooexpensive。Thejanitor-newtothebusiness-wasnotmuchtakenwithhimandshowedit，whichseemedtooffendthenewcomer，whowasevidentlyanirritablefellowowingtoillhealth。
However，theycametotermsasIhavesaid，andthemanwentaway，promisingtosendinhisbelongingsthenextday。Hesmiledashesaidthisandthejanitorwhohadrarelyseensuchachangetakeplaceinahumanface，lookeduncomfortableforamomentandseemeddisposedtomakesomeremarkabouttheroomtheywereleaving。But，thinkingbetterofit，lockedthedoorandledthewaydownstairs。
Astheprospectivetenantfollowed，hemayhavenoticed，probablydid，thatthedoortheyhadjustleftwasanewone-theonlynewthingtobeseeninthewholeshabbyplace。
Thenextnightthatdoorwaslockedontheinside。Theyoungmanhadtakenpossession。Asheputawaytheremnantsofamealhehadcookedforhimself，hecastalookathissurroundings，andimperceptiblysighed。Thenhebrightenedagain，andsittingdownonhissolitarychair，heturnedhiseyesonthewindowwhich，uncurtainedandwithoutshade，staredopen-mouthed，asitwere，attheoppositewallrisinghighacrossthecourt。
Inthatwall，onewindowonlyseemedtointeresthimandthatwasonalevelwithhisown。Theshadeofthiswindowwasup，buttherewasnolightbackofitandsonothingoftheinteriorcouldbeseen。Buthiseyeremainedfixeduponit，whilehishand，stretchedouttowardsthelampburningnearhim，helditselfinreadinesstolowerthelightataminute’snotice。
Didheseeonlytheoppositewallandthatunilluminedwindow?Wastherenomemoryofthetimewhen，inapreviouscontemplationofthosedismalpanes，hebeheldstretchingbetweenthemandhimself，along，lowbenchwithaplainwoodentubuponit，fromwhichadrippingclothbeatoutupontheboardsbeneathadismalnote，monotonousasthetickingofaclock?
Onemightjudgethatsuchmemorieswereindeedhis，fromtherapidglancehecastbehindhimattheplacewherethebedhadstoodinthosedays。Itwasplaceddifferentlynow。
Butifhesaw，andifheheardthesesuggestionsfromthepast，hewasnotlessalivetotheexactionsofthepresent，for，ashisglanceflewbackacrossthecourt，hisfingersuddenlymovedandtheflameitcontrolledsputteredandwentout。Atthesameinstant，thewindowoppositesprangintoviewasthelampwaslitwithin，andforseveralminutesthewholeinteriorremainedvisible-thebooks，thework-table，theclutteredfurniture，and，mostinterestingofall，itsownerandoccupant。Itwasuponthelatterthatthenewcomerfixedhisattention，andwithanabsorptionequaltothathesawexpressedinthecountenanceopposite。
Buthiswastheabsorptionofwatchfulness；thatoftheotherofintrospection。Mr。Brotherson-wewillnolongercallhimDunnevenherewhereheisknownbynoothername-hadenteredtheroomcladinhisheavyovercoatand，nothavingtakenitoffbeforelightinghislamp，stillstoodwithiton，gazingeagerlydownatthemodeloccupyingtheplaceofhonouronthelargecentretable。
Hewasnottouchingit，-notatthismoment-butthathisthoughtswerewithit，thathiswholemindwasconcentratedonit，wasevidenttothewatcheracrossthecourt；and，asthiswatchertookinthisfactandnoticedthelovingcarewithwhichtheenthusiasticinventorfinallyputouthisfingertore-arrangeathreadortwirlawheel，hisdisappointmentfoundutteranceinasighwhichechoedsadlythroughthedullandcheerlessroom。Hadheexpectedthissternandself-containedmantoshowanopenindifferencetoworkandthehopesofalifetime?Ifso，thiswasthefirstofthemanysurprisesawaitinghim。
Hewasgifted，however，withthepatienceofanautomatonandcontinuedtowatchhisfellowtenantaslongasthelatter’sshaderemainedup。Whenitfell，heroseandtookafewstepsupanddown，butnotwiththecelerityandprecisionwhichusuallyaccompaniedhismovements。Doubtdisturbedhismindandimpededhisactivity。HehadcaughtafairglimpseofBrotherson’sfaceasheapproachedthewindow，andthoughitcontinuedtoshowabstraction，itequallydisplayedserenityandacompletesatisfactionwiththepresentifnotwiththefuture。Hadhemistakenhismanafterall?Washisinstinct，forthefirsttimeinhisactivecareer，whollyatfault?
Hehadsucceededingettingaglimpseofhisquarryintheprivacyofhisownroom，athomewithhisthoughtsandunconsciousofanyespionage，andhowhadhefoundhim?Cheerful，andnaturalinallhismovements。
Buttheeveningwasyoung。Retrospectcomeswithlaterandmorelonelyhours。Therewillbeopportunitiesyetforstudyingthisimpassivecountenanceundermuchmoretellingandproductivecircumstancesthanthese。Hewouldawaittheseopportunitieswithcheerfulanticipation。Meanwhile，hewouldkeepuptheroutinewatchhehadplannedforthisnight。Somethingmightyetoccur。
Atalleventshewouldhaveexhaustedthesituationfromthisstandpoint。
Andsoitcametopassthatatanhourwhenalltheotherhard-workingpeopleinthebuildingwereasleep，oratleaststrivingtosleep，thesetwomenstillsatattheirwork，oneinthelight，theotherinthedarkness，facingeachother，consciouslytotheone，unconsciouslytotheother，acrossthehollowwellofthenowsilentcourt。Eleveno’clock！Twelve！NochangeonBrotherson’spartorinBrotherson’sroom；butadecidedoneintheplacewhereSweetwatersat。Objectswhichhadbeentotallyindistinguishableeventohispenetratingeyecouldnowbeseenineverbrighteningoutline。Themoonhadreachedtheopenspaceabovethecourt，andhewasgettingthefullbenefitofit。Butitwasabenefithewouldhavebeengladtodispensewith。Darknesswaslikeashieldtohim。Hedidnotfeelquitesurethathewantedthisshieldremoved。Withnocurtaintothewindowandnoshade，andallthisbrilliancepouringintotheroom，hefearedthedisclosureofhispresencethere，or，ifnotthat，someeffectonhisownmindofthosememorieshewasmoreanxioustoseemirroredinanother’sdiscomfiturethaninhisown。