Fetch  it  out,  Dave."

Wilson  brought  three  of  his  glass  strips,  and  said :

"I  get  the  subject  to  pass  the  fingers  of  his  right
hand  through  his  hair,  so  as  to  get  a  little  coating  of
the  natural  oil  on  them,  and  then  press  the  balls  of
8s


MARK    TWAIN

them  on  the  glass.  A  fine  and  delicate  print  of  the
lines  in  the  skin  results,  and  is  permanent,  if  it
doesn't  come  in  contact  with  something  able  to  rub
it  off.  You  begin,  Tom."

"Why,  I  think  you  took  my  finger-marks  once  or
twice  before."

"Yes,  but  you  were  a  little  boy  the  last  time,  only
about  twelve  years  old."

"That's  so.  Of  course  I've  changed  entirely  since
then,  and  variety  is  what  the  crowned  heads  want,
I  guess."

He  passed  his  fingers  through  his  crop  of  short
hair,  and  pressed  them  one  at  a  time  on  the  glass.
Angelo  made  a  print  of  his  fingers  on  another  glass,
and  Luigi  followed  with  the  third.  Wilson  marked
the  glasses  with  names  and  date,  and  put  them
away.  Tom  gave  one  of  his  little  laughs,  and  said:

"I  thought  I  wouldn't  say  anything,  but  if  variety
is  what  you  are  after,  you  have  wasted  a  piece  of
glass.  The  hand-print  of  one  twin  is  the  same  as
the  hand-print  of  the  fellow  twin."

"Well,  it's  done  now,  and  I  like  to  have  them
both,  anyway,"  said  Wilson,  returning  to  his  place.
