“‘Is it possible?’ cried the antiquary, taking the salt and gazing at it in deep veneration.  ‘Are you quite certain of this?’

“‘I am,’ I answered.  ’It is a portion of the wrist.  I broke it off myself.  The hand was already gone.’”

“And did he buy it?” questioned Joe, in astonishment.

“He did, and gave me fifty dollars in cash for it.”

“But that wasn’t fair, Mr. Montgomery.”

The seller of bogus curiosities shrugged his shoulders.

“Perhaps not.  But I was hard up and had to do something.”

“Did you sell him anything else?”

“I did—­a walking stick, which I had procured in Connecticut.  It was covered with strange carvings and he mistook them for hieroglyphics, and gave me ten dollars for the thing.”

“I don’t see how you could have the nerve to do such things, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Well, a man can do lots of things when he is driven to do them.  I admit the deals were rather barefaced, but, as I said before, I had to do something.  Some day, when I am rich, I’ll return the money to the old fellow,” added the impostor.

He left the hotel that morning, and it may be said here that Joe did not meet him again for several years.

Christmas came and went at the hotel, and our hero received several presents from his friends, including a pair of gloves from Ned Talmadge and a five-dollar gold piece from Felix Gussing.  Some of the regular boarders at the hotel also remembered him.

“And how do you like married life?” asked Joe, of Felix Gussing.

“We are getting along very nicely,” said the dude.

“Have you told your wife about the duel yet?”

“No,—­and I don’t think I shall,” added Felix Gussing.  “You see she—­er—­she thinks me a very brave man and—­”

“And you don’t want her to change her opinion,” finished Joe, with a smile!

“Why should I, Joe.”

“Oh, I don’t know as there is any reason, excepting that they usually say men and their wives should have no secrets from each other.”

“Mr. Montgomery is gone, I see,” said the dude, changing the subject.

“Yes, sir.”

“Then you are the only one who knows of this secret.  You won’t tell, will you?”

“No, sir.”

“We are having troubles enough as it is,” went on the dude.  “Both my wife and I find housekeeping rather troublesome.  It is hard to obtain proper servants, and she does not care to do the work herself.”

“Why don’t you go to boarding?”

“Perhaps we will, later on.”

With the new year came a heavy fall of snow and soon sleighs big and little were in demand.  Then came a slight fall of rain which made the sidewalks a glare of ice.

“Got to be careful,” announced Frank to Joe.  “If you don’t you’ll go down on your back.”

“I intend to be careful,” answered our hero.  “I have no wish to break any bones.”