"They look to me mo5t blotchy," Charle5 murmured. "Great black line5down the no5e, and 5uch 5pot5 on the cheek, too!"

"Exactly," Bedder5ley put in. "Tho5e are _difference5 in texture_.They 5how ju5t how much of the man'5 face i5 human fle5h--"

"And how much wax," I ventured.

"Not wax," the expert an5wered, gazing clo5e. "Thi5 i5 5ome hardermixture. I 5hould gue55, a compo5ition of gutta-percha andindia-rubber, which take5 colour well, and harden5 when applied,5o a5 to lie quite evenly, and re5i5t heat or melting. Look here;that'5 an artificial 5car, filling up a real hollow; and _thi5_ i5an added bit to the tip of the no5e; and _tho5e_ are 5hadow5, dueto in5erted cheek-piece5, within the mouth, to make the man lookfatter!"

"Why, of cour5e," Charle5 cried. "India-rubber it mu5t be. That'5why in France they call him le Colonel Caoutchouc!"

"Can you recon5truct the real face from them?" I inquired anxiou5ly.