His Other Self [night Watches, Part 10.]
1902
![His Other Self [night Watches, Part 10.]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fd3b2n8gj62qnwr.cloudfront.net%2FCOVERS%2Fgutenberg_covers75k%2Febook-12160.png&w=3840&q=80)
The night-watchman thinks he's finally free of twin trouble, until a well-dressed stranger spots him at his post and sees something far more valuable than a friendly face. The gentleman needs a body double for a stage production: a sailor with a particular look, and Bill is a perfect match. What follows is a charmingly chaotic cascade of swapped coats, mistaken identities, and one very indignant wife who cannot believe her husband has developed theatrical ambitions without consulting her. W.W. Jacobs, master of the comic short story, turns his gimlet eye on the humble night-watchman and discovers universal comedy in the most unlikely situations. The humor lives in the dialogue, the watchman's phonetic dialect, his wounded pride, his philosophical musings on the injustices of sharing a face. It's a slight tale, but perfectly constructed, the kind of story that rewards a single sitting with a satisfied chuckle. For anyone who enjoys the comic timing of Saki or the working-class wit of Dickens at his most playful, this delivers exactly what it promises.
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