Page:O'Higgins--The Adventures of Detective Barney.djvu/218

 imperceptibly. Watch my nostril. Now, I ’m listening intently. Now I hear it. Do you see? When a man takes a natural breath, he breathes in through the front of his nose; the sides of the nostrils do not move. But when he inhales in any secret excitement—with gratification— See? It’s almost as if he smelled a pleasant odor. Besides, his mouth showed that he was on his guard all the time. He was away off normal. You have to learn to watch people, until you know what the normal is, and recognize any departure from it instantly. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Babbing was enjoying himself. He paced up and down, like an instructor expounding a beloved art. “Could n’t you see that he was writing—or planning to write—those letters himself?”

“Gee!” Barney said. “What for?”

“Well,” Babbing reflected, “if he were a different looking sort of man, I ’d say that he merely intended to make his wife believe there