Pagina 291 van 657

His appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass

him without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face

disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has

turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a

pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular

contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid

the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he

is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be

thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now

learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been

the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest."

"But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed

against a man in the prime of life?"