"Ah! You've found 'em, then?"

"Found what?" asked the detective.

"Found these trout. I come here for a swim sometimes. I've wondered
why I never saw a rod in this hole. There are a dozen half pounders
there and possibly some bigger ones."

It was Mark's instinctive way to study all fellow creatures with
whom he came in contact. He had an iron memory for faces. He looked
up now and observed the rather remarkable features of the man before
him. His scrutiny was swift and sure; yet had he guessed the
tremendous significance of his glance, or with proleptic vision seen
what this being was to mean during the years of his immediate
future, it is certain that he would have intensified his inspection
and extended the brief limits of their interview.

He saw a pair of broad shoulders and a thick neck over which hung a
square, hard jaw and a determined chin. Then came a big mouth and
the largest pair of mustaches Brendon remembered to have observed on
any countenance. They were almost grotesque; but the stranger was
evidently proud of them, for he twirled them from time to time and
brought the points up to his ears. They were of a foxy red, and
beneath them flashed large, white teeth when the big man talked in
rather grating tones. He suggested one on very good terms with
himself--a being of passionate temperament and material mind. His
eyes were grey, small, set rather wide apart, with a heavy nose
between. His hair was a fiery red, cut close, and of a hue yet more
violent than his mustaches. Even the fading light could not kill his