第82章 A Thumb-print and What Came of It(3)

Sometimes I so hungered for my revenge that I could hardly restrain myself from going on my knees and begging him to point out the man who had murdered my wife and child;but I managed to bridle my tongue.I bided my time,and went on telling fortunes,as opportunity offered.

My apparatus was simple:a little red paint and a bit of white paper.

I painted the ball of the client's thumb,took a print of it on the paper,studied it that night,and revealed his fortune to him next day.

What was my idea in this nonsense?It was this:When I was a youth,I knew an old Frenchman who had been a prison-keeper for thirty years,and he told me that there was one thing about a person which never changed,from the cradle to the grave--the lines in the ball of the thumb;and he said that these lines were never exactly alike in the thumbs of any two human beings.In these days,we photograph the new criminal,and hang his picture in the Rogues'Gallery for future reference;but that Frenchman,in his day,used to take a print of the ball of a new prisoner's thumb and put that away for future reference.He always said that pictures were no good--future disguises could make them useless;'The thumb's the only sure thing,'said he;'you can't disguise that.'

And he used to prove his theory,too,on my friends and acquaintances;it always succeeded.

I went on telling fortunes.Every night I shut myself in,all alone,and studied the day's thumb-prints with a magnifying-glass.Imagine the devouring eagerness with which I pored over those mazy red spirals,with that document by my side which bore the right-hand thumb-and-finger-marks of that unknown murderer,printed with the dearest blood--to me--that was ever shed on this earth!And many and many a time I had to repeat the same old disappointed remark,'will they NEVER correspond!'

But my reward came at last.It was the print of the thumb of the forty-third man of Company C whom I had experimented on--Private Franz Adler.

An hour before,I did not know the murderer's name,or voice,or figure,or face,or nationality;but now I knew all these things!

I believed I might feel sure;the Frenchman's repeated demonstrations being so good a warranty.Still,there was a way to MAKE sure.

I had an impression of Kruger's left thumb.In the morning I took him aside when he was off duty;and when we were out of sight and hearing of witnesses,I said,impressively-'A part of your fortune is so grave,that I thought it would be better for you if I did not tell it in public.You and another man,whose fortune I was studying last night,--Private Adler,--have been murdering a woman and a child!You are being dogged:within five days both of you will be assassinated.'

He dropped on his knees,frightened out of his wits;and for five minutes he kept pouring out the same set of words,like a demented person,and in the same half-crying way which was one of my memories of that murderous night in my cabin--'I didn't do it;upon my soul I didn't do it;and I tried to keep HIM from doing it;I did,as God is my witness.He did it alone.'

This was all I wanted.And I tried to get rid of the fool;but no,he clung to me,imploring me to save him from the assassin.He said--'I have money--ten thousand dollars--hid away,the fruit of loot and thievery;save me--tell me what to do,and you shall have it,every penny.Two-thirds of it is my cousin Adler's;but you can take it all.We hid it when we first came here.

But I hid it in a new place yesterday,and have not told him--shall not tell him.I was going to desert,and get away with it all.

It is gold,and too heavy to carry when one is running and dodging;but a woman who has been gone over the river two days to prepare my way for me is going to follow me with it;and if I got no chance to describe the hiding-place to her I was going to slip my silver watch into her hand,or send it to her,and she would understand.

There's a piece of paper in the back of the case,which tells it all.

Here,take the watch--tell me what to do!'He was trying to press his watch upon me,and was exposing the paper and explaining it to me,when Adler appeared on the scene,about a dozen yards away.I said to poor Kruger--'Put up your watch,I don't want it.You shan't come to any harm.Go,now;I must tell Adler his fortune.

Presently I will tell you how to escape the assassin;meantime I shall have to examine your thumbmark again.

Say nothing to Adler about this thing--say nothing to anybody.

He went away filled with fright and gratitude,poor devil.

I told Adler a long fortune--purposely so long that I could not finish it;promised to come to him on guard,that night,and tell him the really important part of it--the tragical part of it,I said--so must be out of reach of eavesdroppers.

They always kept a picket-watch outside the town--mere discipline and ceremony--no occasion for it,no enemy around.

Toward midnight I set out,equipped with the countersign,and picked my way toward the lonely region where Adler was to keep his watch.It was so dark that I stumbled right on a dim figure almost before I could get out a protecting word.

The sentinel hailed and I answered,both at the same moment.

I added,'It's only me--the fortune-teller.'Then I slipped to the poor devil's side,and without a word I drove my dirk into his heart!

YA WOHL,laughed I,it WAS the tragedy part of his fortune,indeed!

As he fell from his horse,he clutched at me,and my blue goggles remained in his hand;and away plunged the beast dragging him,with his foot in the stirrup.

I fled through the woods,and made good my escape,leaving the accusing goggles behind me in that dead man's hand.

This was fifteen or sixteen years ago.Since then I have wandered aimlessly about the earth,sometimes at work,sometimes idle;sometimes with money,sometimes with none;but always tired of life,and wishing it was done,for my mission here was finished,with the act of that night;and the only pleasure,solace,satisfaction I had,in all those tedious years,was in the daily reflection,'I have killed him!'