" he said, and I was astonished to note that he, like my client,
spoke in musical numbers. "Very. They're much finer than horses, in my
opinion. More peaceful, quite as rapid, and amphibious. If I go out for
a drive and come to a lake they trot quite as well across its surface as
on the highways."

"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."

His jaw dropped in dismay, but recovering himself instantly he put up a
fairly good fight.

"It is strange, Mr. Lohengrin," said I, "that in the three years I have
been here I've never seen you before."

"I've been very quiet," he said. "Fact is, I have had my reasons, Mr.
Holmes, for p