Pagina 314 de 657

Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled

off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the

coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had

seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the

repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled

red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale,

sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned,

rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment.

Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and

threw himself down with his face to the pillow.

"Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing

man. I know him from the photograph."

The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons

himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I

charged with?"