“How interesting!” said I. “And so gentle, the swan. Your wife, I presume—”
Hamlet kicked my shins under the table.
“I think it will rain to-morrow,” he said, giving me a glance which if it said anything said shut up.
“I think so, too,” said Lohengrin, a lowering look on his face. “If it doesn't, it will either snow, or hail, or be clear.” And he gazed abstractedly out of the window.
The kick and the man's confusion were sufficient proof. I was on the right track at last. Yet the evidence was unsatisfactory because merely circumstantial. My piece of down might have come from an opera cloak and not from a well-broken swan, the hair might equally clearly have come from some other head than Lohengrin's, and other men have had trouble with their wives. The circumstantial evidence lying in the coincidences was strong but not conclusive, so I resolved to pursue the matter and invite the strange individual to a luncheon with me, at which I proposed to wear the tinsel tights. Seeing them, he might be forced into betraying himself.
This I did, and while my impressions were confirmed by his demeanor, no positive evidence grew out of it.
“I'm hungry as a bear!” he said, as I entered the club, clad in a long, heavy ulster, reaching from my shoulders to the ground, so that the tights were not visible.
“Good,” said I. “I like a hearty eater,” and I ordered a luncheon of ten courses before removing my overcoat; but not one morsel could the man eat, for on the removal of my coat his eye fell upon my silver garments, and with a gasp he wellnigh fainted. It was clear. He recognized them and was afraid, and in consequence lost his appetite. But he was game, and tried to laugh it off.
“Silver man, I see,” he said, nervously, smiling.
“No,” said I, taking the lock of golden hair from my pocket and dangling it before him. “Bimetallist.”