erce, furtive, hunted manner; the restless suspicion; the
mop of grayish-brown hair. I had expected them all, and there they were.
My man would have those peculiarities, and here was a man who had them.
He, therefore, was the man I sought.

"'O! good old "undistributed middle term!" How many intuitions have
been born of you?'

"My triumph was short-lived. A moment's reflection sobered me. True, I
had found my murderer; but I had lost him again. That bird of ill omen
was still a bird in the bush; in the tangled bush of criminal London. He
had said that he would come to me again, and I hoped that he would. But
who could say? Other eyes than mine were probably looking for him.

"I suppose I am by nature an optimist; otherwise I should not have
continued the pursuit all these years. Hence, having mastered the
passing disappointment, I settled myself patiently to wait in the hope
of my victim's ultimate reappearance. Not entirely passively, however,
for, after the shop was shut, I went abroad nightly to frequent the
foreign restaurants and other less reputable places of the East End in
the hopes of meeting him and jogging his memory. The active employment
kept my mind occupied and made the time of waiting seem less long; but
it had no further result. I never met the man; and, as the weeks passed
without bringing him to my net, I had the uncomfortable feeling that
his hair must have grown and been trimmed by someone else; unless,
indeed, he had fallen into the clutches of the law.

"Meanwhile I quietly made my preparations--which involved one or two
visits to a ship chandler's--and laid down a scheme of action. It would
be a delicate business. The villain was some fifteen years younger than
I; a sturdy ruffian and desperate, as I had seen. My own strength and
activity had been failing for some time now. Obviously I could not meet
him on equal terms. Moreover, I must not allow him to injure me. That
was a point of honor. This was to be no trial by wager of battle. It was
to be an execution. Any retaliation by him would destroy the formal,
punitive character which was the essence of the transaction.

"The weeks sped by. They lengthened into months. And still my visitor
made no appearance. My anxiety grew. There were times when I looked at
my white hair and doubted; when I almost despaired. But those times
passed and my spirits revived. On the whole, I was hopeful and waited
patiently; and in the end my hopes were justified