to hand over a coat that needed mending for Duponte-perhaps he had some supper party to attend. I walked in, overcome by my impatience.
"Ah, you've come to the right place."
It was a man with a large belly stuffed into a bright satin vest.
"Me? Are we acquainted, sir?"
"No, sir."
"Then how do you know I'm at the right place?"
"Look at you!" He put his arms out dramatically, as though I was the prodigal son returning to him. "Wet to the bone. You shall have a chill and fall sick. Now, I have just the suit." He rummaged behind his desk. "You have found the right place to trade your clothes."
"You are mistaken. I have brought something for you."
"Truly? I am not expecting it," he said greedily.
I put the bag down on a chair and opened it, finding only a folded newspaper-a number of the Baltimore Sun. Drops of water blotted the page from my hair and brow.
He snatched it from me while his friendly face sharpened. "Blame me! I daresay I can purchase my own newspaper, young man. This isn't even from this year. Do you come here to jest? What shall I do with this, I ask you?" He glared at me reprovingly. I had dropped from "sir" to "young man." "If you have no business for me tonight..." He waved his hand.
At the word "business" he pointed to one of the signs on his wall to demonstrate his own. Fashionable Clothing and Outfitting Establishment. Shirts, Collars, Under-shirts and Drawers, Cravats, Socks, Hosiery-Warranted in every respect equal to the best custom work.
"Hold on a minute! Apologies, sir," I said eagerly. "I should like very much to make that exchange of clothing, after all."
He brightened. "Excellent, excellent, a wise choice. We shall put you in a suit of finest quality and fit."
"That is what you do, sir? Trade clothing?"
"When there is the need, of course. It is a necessary service for stranded gentlemen like yourself, dear sir. So many forget umbrellas even in the fall and bring but one suit in their trunk. Especially strangers to Baltimore. You are a visitor, I suppose?"
I made a noncommittal gesture. I began to better understand the work of this man; and of Duponte...
The clothier brought me a handful of garments-what a costume it was! He repeated his assessment that they were of the finest quality, though they were quite shabby, and they did not fit in the least. The coat and its drab velvet collar almost matched one leg of the pants-the less faded one-and neither were intended to match the vest. All were several sizes too small for me, yet the clothier had an expression of deep pride as he declared me very "finefied" and held up a looking-glass so I might glory in the sight of myself.
"There, snug and dry! It is quite a fair shake for you, this trade," he said. "Now this"-he picked up my cane-"this is as fair a specimen as I have seen. Heavy thing, though, for a pilgrim like yourself. A burden. Looking to part with it? I may pay well for this, and my prices are not cut under by anyone in the neighborhood."
I almost forgot, before leaving his store, the newspaper Duponte had sent with me. I looked at the date at the top of the page. October 4, 1849. The day after Poe was discovered with ill-fitting clothes at Ryan's. I scanned the pages, stopping at the reports of the previous day's weather. The day, I mean, when Poe was found. "Cold, raw, and misty." "Damp and rainy." "A steady, heavy blow from the northeast."
Just like today. When I'd entered the library, Duponte had been waiting at the window, looking not absently into the air, as it seemed, but into the sky and clouds. He was waiting for a day fitting the description of that fateful third of October to send me into.
"I'll take that, sir," I said politely, removing the Malacca cane from his grasp. "This I shall never part with." Before leaving, I fished out some half-dimes and took an umbrella the clothier had sitting behind his table.
Outside, I found my steps were uneven, with my legs constrained by the irregular pants. I stood under the awning while testing the flimsy umbrella.
"The heavens are splitting tonight."
I jumped, startled by the coarse voice. In the dark covering of rain I could hardly make out the figure of a man.
I screwed up my eyes as he turned and faced me. Another shape appeared near him.
"You