s was
a little worn, but his linen was clean. His dusky hands were wiry and
nervous, and were lividly discolored in more places than one by the
scars of old wounds. The toes of one of his feet, off which he had
kicked the shoe, grasped at the chair rail through his stocking, with
the sensitive muscular action which is only seen in those who have been
accustomed to go barefoot. In the frenzy that now possessed him, it was
impossible to notice, to any useful purpose, more than this. After
a whispered consultation with Mr. Brock, the surgeon personally
superintended the patient's removal to a quiet bedroom at the back of
the house. Shortly afterward his clothes and his carpet-bag were sent
downstairs, and were searched, on the chance of finding a clew by which
to communicate with his friends, in the magistrate's presence.

The carpet-bag contained nothing but a change of clothing, and two
books--the Plays of Sophocles, in the original Greek, and the "Faust" of
Goethe, in the original German. Both volumes were much worn by reading,
and on the fly-leaf of each were inscribed the initials O. M. So much
the bag revealed, and no more.

The clothes which the man wore when he was discovered in the field were
tried next. A purse (containing a sovereign and a few shillings), a
pipe, a tobacco pouch, a handkerchief, and a little drinking-cup of horn
were produced in succession. The next object, and the last, was found
crumpled up carelessly in the breast-pocket of the coat. It was a
written testimonial to character, dated and signed, but without any
address.

So far as this document could tell it, the stranger's story was a sad
one indeed. He had apparently been employed for a short time as usher at
a school, and had been turned adrift in the world, at the outset of his
illness, from the fear that the fever might be infectious, and that
the prosperity of the establishment might suffer accordingly. Not the
slightest imputation of any misbehavior in his employment rested on him.
On the contrary, the schoolmaster had great pleasure in testifying to
his capacity and his character, and in expressing a fervent hope that
he might (under Providence) succeed in recovering his health in somebody
else's house. The written testimonial which afforded this glimpse at the
man's story served one purpose more: it connected him with the initials
on the books, and identified him to the magistrate and the landlord
under the strangely uncouth name of