I understood his meaning, but instead of returning an answer I managed to empty his so-called wine upon the floor, and then took my leave, after first hinting that we were on the track of Follet’s companion. I felt easier and breathed freer after reaching the open air, in defiance of the dust, which filled the heavens, and almost blinded me; and while I was picking my way through the street, with half-closed eyes, whom should I meet but Mr. Brown.
“Hullo,” he shouted, “what is up?”
I briefly related the manner in which I had been received by the commissioner, and the discovery that Steel Spring had made.
“And when does that long-limbed wretch propose to identify Follet’s companion, so that we can get hold of him?” Mr. Brown inquired.
“To-night,” I answered; “I intended to find you in the course of the day, and get you to accompany us on the expedition.”
“What time do you start?”
“About midnight. Steel Spring is to be at Dan’s, and will introduce us to the company as men afraid to look upon the face of a ‘Trap,’ and ’on the square.’”
“I’ll be with you before you start, and during the day I’ll send two disguises to the store which will be hard to rival in point of ugliness. Good by for the present, and don’t forget to examine and clean your revolvers, for we may need them.”
At about midnight we donned our disguises, and then surveyed each other with attention. Fred had a close-cropped wig of a fiery red color, which nearly covered his forehead, and made him look like a prize-fighter after a hard battle.
On his nose was stuck an immense piece of adhesive plaster, which rather detracted from his personal beauty; and to complete the adornment of his person, there were other strips of the same material on his face, which, by the way, was slightly smeared with dirt to give him a healthy color so that the company which we were about to seek should not accuse us of aristocracy in being too clean.
I also had on a wig, but it was one of the fussy kind, and made my head look as though guiltless of a comb or brush for many months. To beautify my complexion I smeared it over with soot, and when I regaled myself with a glance at our six by nine glass, I was satisfied that no living man could tell whether I was a dirty white man or a dirty negro.
Our costumes consisted of blue flannel shirts, with coarse canvas trousers, very much soiled and very stiff; but they were made loose, with very deep pockets, for the express purpose of carrying a brace of pistols or huge pocket knives.
A few minutes past twelve o’clock the inspector gave his peculiar knock, and we admitted him. He had on a suit of clothing that formerly belonged to a miner who had passed two or three weeks under ground digging through a stratum of clay, and of course he had not spared his garments, for they were so besmeared that it would have puzzled a conjurer to have defined the original color of the cloth. His wig was black, and contrasted with his saturnine complexion, and as long as he held his tongue he would have passed muster as a native of Italy.