e an
effort to turn over and find some cooler ice. I did not interrupt
him. He spoke as follows:

THE MARKET FLOUNDER'S ICY REMARKS

For Friday morn is hangman's day;
Fast in the noose I dangle.
At four A. M. the clam I seek,
And get into a tangle.
Alas! my wish--a one-eyed fish[B]--
To find a juicy ration;
The clam on high began to die--
A sweet anticipation!
Beware the scent, tho' hunger groan!
My gentle kiss (a fishing smack)
Shot far amiss and with a hiss
I landed pretty well for'ard.
A smack I smote with a fearful thwack,
A stunning whack across the back,
On the upper deck of the Judy Peck.
At noon to-day, the fishermen say,
We ornament the table--
O, wretched deed!--or chicken feed,
Two rods behind the stable.

My purpose was to be serious with Mr. Tescheron. I had fooled him
quite enough. He recognized me, and as he was so cool, surrounded
by his cracked ice, I did not give him the chance to refuse a
hand-shake.

"I came to apologize to you, Mr. Tescheron," I began. "It seems
that you can't take a joke and that you flew to Hoboken--"

He reached into a drawer and brought forth a small photograph of
Hosley, which he handed to me.

"Yes, I know you seemed to think it was all a joke," he said. "But
what do you think of that picture, taken from the Rogues'
Gallery?--look on the back."

Sure enough, it was a familiar photograph of Hosley, and I knew the
photographer who took it. But this picture was on a small card with
no photographer's name on it. It might have been cut down from a
larger photograph. At any rate, it was the usual size of the
Rogues' Gallery police portraits, and was stamped and written upon
the back like the official pictures of criminals. It made Jim look
like a thief, and the plate must have been carefully retouched to
order. You can buy anything in New York, thought I.

[Illustration: "I CAME TO APOLOGIZE TO YOU, MR. TESCHERON."--_Page_322.]

"Do you believe that is a real Rogues' Gallery picture?" I asked.

"Certainly. Here's a dozen of 'em from as many different cities. If
you'd gone to the expense I did to get them, you would think they
were genuine. Oh, there's no question about it. Strange, how you
could be fooled like that! Lived with him for ten years, didn't
you, and all the while he was married to that woman down-stairs and
was kiting around the country for months at a time, r