Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-05


''ThirdlY-'' and Mr.. Padger paused
and looked tenderly at her.
''ThirdIy?' she queried, with an air
of the most unconscious innocence.
''Well, we II talk about that when the
time comes Won You come for turn
on the beach. It's a lovely afternoon
for a stroll.
"Oh, l haven t time. said Mary re-
gretfuIly, as they came TO halt at the
head of the steps leading down 10 the
shore.
''what pity.''
"Good- bye, Mr.. Padger, - continued
Mary, smiling sweetIy and holding out
her rosy hand.
''Good-bye, Mary, my dear, " he re-
turned, tenderly pressing it. elf was
TO drop around your way tonight, should
1 happen to find you al homer
Gwen, / daresay you might if you
cared to try. Good bye
4" Goodbye, my dear.
Mr. Padger made his way down the
steep wooden steps, and onto the crowded
sands in a most unenvable frame Of
mind. lie had expressed unreservedly
to Mary his disbelief in her young mis-
tress guilt with the utmost assurance,
but he knew that he did not feel, and had
nothing to support such an assump-
ton. Suspicion such as it was, point
ed strongly at present to Miss Ennis, and
he could not conceal from himself that
his theory that the criminal was q man
was merely conjecturaI, and presented
many almost insupeTable difficulties.
What, he thought, if, as he continued
his researches, he should find them lead
ing him surely and inexorably towards a
conclusion he dared not contemplate?
What if they served TO strengthen the
net and draw it closer and closer round
Miss Ennis?
In that case he felt certain that, unjust
as it would be to saddle him with the
consequences, Mary would nevertheless
insist that it was his doing, and would
never again speak to or look at him
He was surprised to find how much
this prospect Mortified him.
Should he at once and forever abandon
the pursuit? This would avail him little
now. He was practically pledged to
Mary to sweep away the cloud OF suspic-
ion that oveTshadOwed Miss Ennis 1t
was moreover, he felt beyond his pow
eTs. He would not believe, i'll spite of
appearances, that the girl was implica-
ted, but be the result what it might be
would carry the business he had com
menced even TO the bitterest end.
His professional pride was concerned,
ana would not allow HIM to turn back.
The danger his dearest hopes incurred
did not deter him any more than the
mere money reward melted him He
had determined to solve the mystery and
he would do it. If the worst came to be
worst, he must make the most OF the
fame, and the consolation of having
4 hi nj fgr hnt md Z
ward would be lost to him. He could not
claim from the father the price of the
conviction Of his daughter.
In the mean time he would adhere res
olutely to his unfounded theory that the
murderer was man, and would endeay-
or to find some way out Of the first of
many doubtful points. 'How could q
man have effected an entrance into that
machine?'
There were very few people bathing,
but post imbedded in the sand marked
the boundaries of the gentlemen : bath
ing place, and starting from the spot
where the fatal machine had stood he be-
gan 10 pace the distance between the two
points. When he reached the limit he
sank upon the warm dry sand with a
groan.
''It is impossible, - he murmured,
"utterly, absolutely impossible.
The idea had flashed across him that
q man might have swan under water
from one place to the other, but the dis
lance between them was at least one
hundred and fifty yards, and he knew
that no man could cover that. He was
himself a more than average amateur
long distance diver and his experience
told him that II could not be done.
Three times be paced the distance
without making any appreciabIe differ
ence in his calculations. Finally he gave
it up as hopeless His wild theory had
been no sooner formed than undemable
and irresistible fact had crushed it to
atoms. He knew that the longest re-
corded swim under water was a little
over one hundred and thirteen yards,
and such a feat as his theory necessitated
was not only incredible, it was impossi-
BILE.
Was there no other way of escape from
the dilemma? Vainly he asked himself
this question. VainIy he Tacked his be-
wildeTed brains for a satisfactory answer,
an available solution.
There was no way, and he groaned as
he realized the inevitable result. If the
murder had not been committed by a
man, and that now seemed perfectly Ger
tain, if must have been a woman's hand
that struck the cowardIy blow, and If
woman s, whose should it be but Miss
Ennis?
There was no avoiding this reasoning
No bubble, no quirk, would invalidate
it.
He returned home in q very despond-
ent condition. He had spent several
hours of valuable time, and had gained
nothing by it. He had exhausted the
of his Imagination in the fabri-
cation of untenable hypothesis, while
series of plain, indisputable facts stared
HIM remorselessly in the face
Still he would not admit their cogency
Still he persevered in his struggle TO
make ropes of sand, though he was
aware that he was in all probability seek
ing & mystery where there was none, and
wiIfulIy turning his eyes from broad
path to find n blind trail
which would conduct him nowhere. or
lead him tOilsOmely a short distance to
land him finally in an impossible quag-
miTe.
CHAPTER VIII.
MR.. PADGER HEARS SOMETHING.
''There' S young person Awaiting to
see you, - said Mr.. Padger's landIady as
Inc admitted him, in a tone of the |
IL