respondence
Lessons in Deteckating' by which I graduated out of the Deteckative
Correspondence School."

"Never heard of him in my life," said the Judge.

"This here," said Mr. Gubb, not without pride, "is a personal letter I
got from him this A.M. just now," and he handed the Judge the letter.

Judge Orley Morvis took the letter with an air of disdain and began to
read it with a certain irritating superciliousness. Almost immediately
he began to turn red behind the ears. Then his ears turned red. Then
his whole face turned red. He breathed hard. His hand shook with rage.

"Well, of all the infernal--" he began and stopped.

"Has the aforesaid impostor been to see _you_?" asked Philo Gubb
eagerly.

"Me? Nonsense!" exclaimed the Judge violently. "Do you think I would
be taken in by a child's trick like this? Nonsense, Mr. Gubb,
nonsense!"

"I didn't hardly think it was possible," said Detective Gubb.

"Possible?" cried the Judge with anger. "Do you think a common faker
like that could hoodwink _me_? Me give an impostor twenty dollars!
Nonsense, sir!"

He arose. He was in a great rage about it. He stamped to the door.

"And don't let me hear you retailing any such lie about me around this
town, sir!" he exclaimed.

He slammed the door, and then the Bald Impostor slowly raised his head
above the desk.

"What did you hide for?" asked Philo Gubb.

The Bald Impostor wiped his bedewed brow.

"Hide?" he said questioningly. "Oh, yes, I did hide, didn't I? Yes.
Yes, I hid. You see--you see the Judge came in."

"If you hadn't hid," said Philo Gubb, "I could have got that business
of the per diem charge per day fixed up right here. I was going to
introduce him to you."

"Yes--going to introduce him to me," said the Bald Impostor. "That was
it. That was why I hid. You were going to introduce him to me, don't
you see?"

"I don't quite comprehend the meaning of the reason," said Philo Gubb.

"Why, you see," said the Bald Impostor glibly,--"you see--if you
introduced me to him--why--why, he'd know me."

"He'd know you?" said Philo Gubb.

"He'd know me," repeated the false Mr. Burns. "I'll tell you why. The
Bald Impostor _did_ call on him."

"Honest?"

"I was there," said the Bald Impostor. "The Judge gave him twenty
dollars and a copy of some book or other he had written, and he wrote
his autograph in the book. Remember that. The Judge wrote his
autograph in a book--and gave it to the fellow. I'm telling y