Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-08

| having remained at home all the even
! ing, once more left his lodgings, and
| wended his way to the summit of the
! cliffs, and thence to the beach. It was a
curious time to select for battle, but the
! towels which he carried in a bundle
under his arm would have assured the
most casual observer that such must
| undoubtedly be his intention. The Pc
| culiarity of this proceeding might have
| been explained if the aforesaid observer
| had been at pains to follow him.
| 1t was lovely, warm night. and the
| great circle of the full moon flooded
with radiance the quiet sea, and the wide
| stretch of sand gIistening with moisture
| left by the ebbing tide Carefully sur
veying his position by the bearings he
| had taken the precaution to note, Mr..
! Padger deposited his towels and pro-
| ceeded to undress upon the very spot
| that the blood stained bathing machine
| had occupied on the day Of the murder.
During the long review of the situation
| which he had made that afternoon he
! had been puzzled by the utter disappear
! auce of Mrs. Ennis watch. Whether his
| solution of the mystery was right one
| or not, this point was fraught with dlih-
| Guilty In any case it was ridiculous to
| carried off an article so comparatively
valueless, and so easily traceable, leaV-
| ing behind him f27 in solid coin, and the
only conclusion was that the watch had
| for some undiscoveTable reason fallen or
| been flung into the sea.
| To search for, and if possible to re-
| cover it, as he had already done with the
| pearl handled knife, was Mr.. Padger 5
! present purpose. He was aware that
| some little distance out below the lowest
water mark, q broad ledge of smooth,
| level rock was thrust up through the
| spread of sand If the watch had fallen
| upon this it was probably still to be found
| there, as there was no fear Of sand hav-
| ing drifted over it, and the sea
| had been so invariably calm
! since the day of the murder
! that at that depth it could not have been
washed off To search in the day time
was, however, impossible, for II the
watch was really unheeded on the rocky
| bottom beneath the waves, it was IN all
| likelihood i'll that portion which was de-
| voted exclusively to ladies, and was ia
| boo to the rougher sex. Consequently at
night, il at all, the investigation must be
made.
Slowly Mr.. Padger waded backwards
W
Their out, above his knees, above his
waist, until the water murmered round
his chin Then there was a slight splash
and Mr.. Padger disappeared from view.
For a short time the smooth surface. of
| the sea was unbroken, and then he reap
peared above the rIpples some ninety
yards to the left of his former position,
putting, blowing and dashing the water
from his eyes.
Again and again, for upwards of half
an hour, Mr.. Padger alternately melted
away, and emerged once more into the
moonlight At length at the cor clusion
of an unusually long disappearance,
which restored him to the surface still
further to the left of his starting point,
he gave up the pursuit and struck out for
shore.
He was stiff and chilled by his pro-
longed immersion, and wearied by his
tremendous efforts; but as has already
been remarked, he was an accomplished
swimmer and diver, and brisk rub
down with the towels, q rapid SPIN upon
the beach and a swig of Scotch whisky
from a flask which he had brought with
him, restored the warmth to his body
and the elasticity to his limbs.
'sThanks, ''he exclaimed as he climbed
''Thanks TO the happy chance that made
me take an interest in diving -
It might be gathered from this that
he had succeeded in procuring the OBJ
ject of his search, but the conclusion
would be erroneous. He had not. He
had failed to find the missing watch,
but he had found something, and it was
the desire to ascertain more precisely
what that something was that fastened
his steps homeWard.
AS soon as he was safely locked in the
seclusion OF his sitting rOOm-a precau
ton he took as usual though his land
lady had gone to bed-he drew from his
pocket and deposited upon the table the
sole reward of mis- exertions.
II was a small box, covered externally
with polished steel, but slightly furnished
BY its soiourn under water, anf bearing
no mark or ornament upon its surface
save the simple incised initials, G T
Before opening it Mr.. PGdger, in his
customary business-like way deliberately
took It's measurements and noted them
down in his p0cketbook.
Length, three inches; height, two
inches; width, two inches. =
Having verified these, and assures
himself that they were strictly accur-
ATE he pTOc66uGu IL carry tue tA2iLilLlu-
ton further 1t opened with n spring
which had been somewhat affected by
the damp, but a little exertion seemed
to overcome its resistance, and revealed
the interior.
The man who made it had done his
work so thoroughly that scarcely a drop
of water had found its way between the
box and the lid, and the fittings were
consequently very little injured.
It was filed, flush with the top, with
some solid material, covered with quill
ted crimson plush. In the center was
an oval depression, also lined with plush.
the worn appearance of which indicated
that the article which it had contained,
but which was now removed from its
position, had been constantly taken out
and replaced.
"Whew!' whistled Mr.. Padger. "a
jewel case or l IN Il Dutchman. Padger,
my boy, there is more in this than has
met your eye as yet. That murder was
not so motiveless US you imagined. -
This discovery, in fact, if it had any
connection with the case at all, point
which Mr.. Padger assumed, threw alto
,ro+l,ar, VOW ,rr,o,, IF 20