t .-.-- .i ; ...r . .'." ' 1 rinis " 'v' F':4W M -.tmes...... "B' S AN' INDEPENDENT FAMILY NEWSPAPER. "STZSZZZSZ ; . - - : . .; ' : '- . : - ' . ' y; '.'... -' - Vol. V. ;Ncv Bloomacl(l, PjiM TuGHday, October 17, 1871. IVo. 42. hi- . i r tv b&r .... ! . Is Fubllahed Weekly, At New Bloonifield, renn'a." FRANK MORTIMER. BUUSCUirTION TEKM8. &l.&Ci PKH YKAH! 7S Cent for 6 Months; 40 Cents for 3 Months, IN ADVANCE. Miss Foster's Lovers. A Story of Clrenmstnntlnl Evidence. CONCLUDED. ON the seventh night of our being out, wo were running undoi canvas ; and being tli us relieved from duty, I was walk ing the deck, pondering over the circum stances connected with the 'murder of the unfortunate Marlow, and trying to think of somo theory of its commission consistent with tho innocenco of WaUworth. But my thinking was all in vain ; for after cogita ting on tho matter for between two and threo hours, I only succeeded in gotling my thoughts into a state of hopeless confu sion. So, giving up all hope of "seeing my way out," that night, I leaned idly against tho bulwarks, and softly whistled to myself as ; was my wont when, like tho jolly young waterman, I was "thinking nothing at all" and gazed vacantly over as much of the " wild waste of waters" as was visi blo in the dim starlight. How long I re mained in this listless attitude) and apathct io frame of mind, I cannot say ; but I havo often thought since that I must havo been dozing for some timo. However that may have beon, I was suddenly startled by hear ing distinctly, as though spokon by somo person closo to my car a phrase which in tho course of our numerous conversations tho captain had frequently made use of, " It mutt hate been done by tome one connect ed with tfa thip or On notei wotild not have been found on board." I turned abr nptly to the side from which the sound appeared to proceed ; but there was no one there, nor could I see any ono on tlio same part of the dock as myself. Thoroughly roused by this incident, I again began to puce the deck ; hut still the words, "It must have .been done by somo ono connected with the ship," seemed to ring In my ears for several sec onds. . As soon as the Bound ceased, there came to my mind, not by any process of reasoning, but instantly; Mid like a flood of light, an idea which I felt contained the real explanation of the murder for which WaUworth had been arrested, I was great ly agitated by the , nature of the thought which bad taken possession of mo, and tho sudden and strange manlier in which it had occurred; so I retired to my berth, with tlie determination of "sleeping upon it beforo iuipartlDir to any ono the suspicions to which it had given rise. My sleep was neither dreamless nor very refreshing; still I awoke In the morning in a much calmer frame of mlud than I had beeu when I "turned in" on tho previ ous nlcht; and on reflecting upon the idea which had occurred to me so unexiectcdly, I began to be surprised that it should not have forced itself upon my notice lieforo. After indulging iu a good dip of cold wa ter, and making a light breakfast, I had a short conversation with tho third engineer, and then waited upon the eaptain. " Uoou morning, win, lie sam, remov iug tho cigar from his mouth, and speaking from his side of the cloud of smoke that hung between us, as I entered the cabin in response to his cheery "Come in." " You don't look over-woll," ho went on, as the smoko dispersing enabled us to "sight' each other. " Not come to report yourself nick; I hoio." ' ' ' No," I answered, " I am quite well but I've come to speak to you on a very serious object." "Bncak on, then, Will," he said. M I'm alt attention i ami as serious as an heir-ox pectant at a will-reading." Notwithstanding bis bantering mauner, knew be was "all attention," and so wen stralirhtto the point by' saying, "Well, what I wish to tell you is, ' that I think can see my way out of Wallwortb's affair, " The deuce you can !" lie said, with start, and laying down the cigar which he had been about to replace iu bis mouth Well. I bxliev I can," I answered 'but before' I mention ray suspicions, may ask if, when you so frequently expressed your opinion that the murder must havo been committed by some ono connected with the ship, you- suspected any tmo in particular?'! ... "No," ho answered, shaking his head. 'Well. God forelve me," I said, "If I suspect ally mail unjustly of being guilty of such a fearful crime ; but I now strongly suspect a riian who is at present on board, of being the murderer." 1 , ' " For Heaven's sake !" ho exclaimed, 1x3 careful how you make such an accusa tion against any ono. Havo you any sound reasons anything, for instance, that would bo fairly admitted as ovidonce in a court of justice to justify your suspicions? ' . "I have," I replied, "or I would never have entertained or mentioned suspicions of so grave a character." "And who, then, is the man?" he asked. " lieforo I mention his name," I replied, understand me, I do not wish what I am ibout to say to bo repeated to any ono else at present. I would not tell my suspicions even to you, only I wish to ask your per mission, and perhaps assistance, to set a watch upon the movements of the suspect ed party, and to take any other steps that will be likely to prove whethor my suspi cions are correct or otherwise." "Well," ho answered, "if you will satis fy mo that you havo rcasonablo causo for your suspicions, I will givo you any assis tance in my power to verify or set them at rest. And now, who is tho man?" "Fleming, the fireman," I said, lowering my voice. "As 1 said boiorc, l contineu, seeing that tho captain was for the moment too surprised to sjieak, "may God forgivo me if I am suspecting an innocent man ; but I now firmly believo that it was Flem ing who murdered tho poor fellow whoso untimely end is laid to AV all worth's charge' By Jovo 1 1 believe you've bit it this timo, Will," exclaimed tho captain, inter rupting mo as I was about to commence an expiation of my reasons for believing Fleming to bo the murderer. "I'm aston ished," ho went on, " neither of us ever thought of it before, for it was ho that went to Foster's for you and according to what you have told me of what occurred there, be must have been leaving about the samo timo as tho murdered man ; and as tho latter stood in tho ball talking to Miss Foster, Fleming must have noticed tho car go of jewelry ho carried." 1 1 , "And not only that," I said, (' but I now recollect that while speaking, Marlow was putting tho loose money which . he,, had brought from the card-table into a. purse which appeared to be well filled, and ev ery time tho money chinked, Fleming gave a furtive glance at lniil. And then," Icon. tiuued, checking the captain, '-with n ges ture as ho i was about to speak,' "when Fleming left tho house, 'there was no ser vant in the ball, and I bad turned to gC up stairs again before be reached the door, so that ho bad every opportunity to take Wall- worth's stick from the stand. On question ng tho third engineer this morning, find that Fleming did not return on board on the morning of tho murder till several hours after mo ; that when ho did come he was very much excited, and bis dross was muddy and disordered ; and that he offered no explanation either of bis lengthened absence from the ship, or the damaged state of his clothes when tho engineer reprimand ed him." What sort of a fellow is ho in a goner al way ?'' asked tho captain. , i "Well. I may say. that his character would nut be of service to him iu an 'affair of this kind," I replied. " He's a good fireman, and olicdicnt enough whuro duty is concerned ; but bo's of a savage brutal temper, and from what I'vo heard bis mates say, ho shows a cupidity of disposl tion that, to say the cast of it, is rather uncommon among seagoing men." , " Well, I begin to think we shall bo able to extricate Harry from -this mess, afte ull," said the captain, when I had linislied speaking ; for tho only real piecos of evi dence against him are his stick, aud the bank notes ; and if we can account for them in a manner consistent with his iunoccuco, w hy, tho thing is dono. I Now what you say suggests a very feasible explanation for the finding of the slick, and I think can account for the finding of tho notes in a manner equally as feasible, and as con sistent with tho theory of Wallworth's in nocouce and Fleming's guilt for I remum bor that tho latter stood within a few feet of me when tho clerk was telling mo Wsllwoitb' arrest,1 and that the police aro going to board us. As the clerk was exel ted, and spoke iu a loud tone, Fleming could not help bearing what was said, and he had plenty of opportunities between the timo of tho clerk's leaving tho vossel and tho arrival of tho detectives, to enter Wall worth's berth and secrete tho notes there." From a consideration of these circum- : stances, tho captain and I were fully satis- lied in our own minds that Fleming was tho murderer ; and as the friends of Wall worth, our next stop was to consider how we might best obtain some satisfactory evi dence of his (Fleming's) guilt. After along consultation, we arranged that each of us should privately make inquiries concerning his proceedings on the morning of and sinco the murder, and that I should confide my suspicions to ono of the firemen, an in telligent young fellow on whom I could re- I was to instruct him to keep a closo watch upon tho movements of Fleming, and to sound him upon tho subject of the murder. This arrangement was persevere- ingly carried out, and in the course of two ays tho captain bad ascertained that a few minutes beforo tho detectives camo on board, the mate had scon Fleming coming out of Wallworth's berth, and though ho took no notice of it at tho moment, ho re membered it after tho detectives had left tho ship, and had even asked him what he had been doing there. Floniing rcpliod that ho had overheard tho conversation be tween tho clerk and tho captain, and had slipped into Wallworth's berth with tho in tention of secretly removing any ovidenco of guilt that ho might find beforo the arri val of the detectives, but that seeing noth ing of a suspicious character, ho was leav ing when tho mate saw him; ' Believing this explanation, tho mato remained silent about it, thinking that, had it boon known, Fleminir miuht havo not into trouble for lis generous intention. In tho meantime, learned from my own observations, and from what thoi fireman whom , I had set watch told mo, that Fleming bad not now got tho suit of clothes ho had worn on tho morning of tho murder ; that bo persistently avoided speaking of tho crime iinself, and seemed nervous when tho sub ject was spoken of by , others in his pres ence ; that bis sleep was disturbed, and ho often left his hammock to walk tho duck ; and that bo would never open his sea-chest when others were look'ng on. All this, ' said tho captain, when wo were comparing notes, ," goes to confirm tho correctness of our belief in Fleming's guilt ; but still it affords no tangible proof of it, and it is proof that wo require.": " Yes, it is proof that wo require," I re plied,' ropeatiug his words; but how aro we to got it? Have you any idea?" ' . " Well, I have," be answered ; "but I'm afraid you'll think it rather a quoor ono." . " Well, lot me know what it is anyhow," I said. "'" ,: ' ' .' ' Well, then," ho answered, "1 would suggest that you take an impression of tho lock of Fleming's chest, aud make u key to fit it, and open it in tho presence of wit nesses." , ,, . : I suppose my looks showed that 1 did consider this idea ."a rather queer one," for the cuptain hastened to add in an apologot- ical tono, "you know there h ho use in be. ing over scrupulous iu a case liko this; and besides, what I propose can do no harm to Fleming if lie is innocent,' while if, as wo suspect hois guilty, it would' be 'throwing away a chance iu Wallworth's favor to let him get on shore without having his chest examined ; for you may depend upon it. that if be is tho criminal, be IMS' tho jew. elrv taken from the murdered man with him. ' Tho search after it was too hot dur inir the two or three days wo wero in Liv erpool, after the murder, to allow of hi disposing of It there." ' ', Not being able to think of anything hot ter, and holding vyith tho captain that this was not a caso iu which to bo ovcr-scrupu lous, I resolved after a little consideration, to act upon tho plan ho suggested; and hav ing signified my .intention of doing so, left him, in order to set about carrying it out as speedily aq possible. All steamships carry a kit of tools with them ; and with the aid of these , I soon made a key, with which, in the presence o tho captain, the chief mate and second en gineer to whom, under a promise of se crecy, the captain bad explainod the clr cumstaiiccg of tho i case I i opened the cliost. H was large and strongly nulu,tho scanty wardrobo and a few miscellaneous articles which it contained scarcely ' cover ing its bottolii, and offering very few obsta cles to a thoroimh examination.- Our' first proceeding was to note accurately the man. tier in which it was packed, so that we might bo able tOTcplaca Its contents in manner that would exclto bo suspicion their having been disturbed; and having done this we commenced our search. Ev erything was taken out of the chest, and each orticlo of clothing was unfolded and felt all over, in order to discover if there was anything sewn in them ; but all in vain for our purpose, as nothing that could iu the remotest degree be connected with Mar- ow's murder was found. Though disap pointed at ' tho result of our soarch, my belief in Fleming's guilt was by no means shaken. It was possible, I thought, that tho jewelry was concealed about the clothes that ho wore, or hidden in boiiio of the coalbuuks; and so on arriving at Bermuda, requested my friendly llreniuu to continue is watch upon him, to see if ho attempted to disposo of anything on shore. A few days bofore wo wore to loavo Ber muda, I received letters from Mr. and Miss ostcr and tho lawyer. Mr. Foster's letter merely stated, that up to the timo at which it was written, nothing favorablo to Wall worth hud transpired. His daughter's was much longer; but it contained nothing that was calculated to throw light upon tho sub ject on which it was written, consisting mainly of reiterations of bor belief in Wall worth's innocence, and reproaches against herself as tho cause of his present misfor tune. Tho letter of tho lawyer was of a more important character. In it ho stated that having mado tho most searching in quiries without being ablo to discover any evidence in Wallworth's favor, he thought tho best lino of defence would bo to try, by pleading general good character and tho provocation bo had received from Marlow, to reduce tho crime to manslaughter, at the samo timo suggesting that in his torror at finding bo bad killod tho , man, ho had taken tho property for the purpose of mak ing it appear that the crime had beon com mitted by thieves. But to this arrange ment WaUworth altogether refused to" ac cede, and still persisted iu protesting his ontire innocence. From the watch kept upon bis move ments during the few times oh which ho was on shoro whilo wo lay In Bermuda, I felt sure that Fleming bad not disposed of anythinc there ; nor could tho utmost watchfulness of tho captain and myself do tect anything in tho shape of material proof of his guilt. As wo tiearcd England again, my hopes of being able to demonstrate Wallworth's innocence began to fail, aud I even began to entertain doubts as to whether, in tho present stato of affairs, I should bo justified iu making any public accusation against Fleming not that my be lief in his guilt was in any way shaken ; for though I had failed to discover any thing iu the nature of positivo evidence of his guilt,-bis manner and appearance serv ed to strengthen my conviction that bo was themurdoror. - During tho whole of tho run out he had appeared restless and ill at ease, going about his work in a fitful and nervous way that attracted the notice of all engaged hi the engine-room ; and while during that Chinese run lie had shown an especial reluctance to "turn out" to duty, he would now frequently leave his ham mock and walk tho deck' for hours at a time. Tho samo restless nervousness char acterized bis manner during our stay' at Bermuda ; and How, during tho run home, it greatly increased. ' Tho Change in his personal appearanco was more marked and noticeable than even tho; change in lis manner. . When we loft England, be was a model of robust health ; but now, when , we were approaching homo again after an ab sence pf less than three mouths, lie was so altered in this respect as to be scarcely rec ognizable. His eyes sparklod with an un natural brilliancy, and were deeply sunken in bis bead ; his cheeks were palo and hol low ; and his wholo frame exhibited a do dreo of attenuation that was painful to be hold. These alterations in manner and ap pearance wero to me tho result of the anxieties and terrors of a mind conscious of guilt and fearful of detection j aud con sequently as I havo said, they strengthened my belief in his guilt. But when reflecting upon these things, I was forced to admit that they would have no weight with unin teresting persous, as thoy might easily bo attributed to a touch of the fever which frequently hovers over Bermuda,' or' to a variety of other natural causes ;aud as such reflections forced themselves on my mind, I felt very despondent about : poor Wall worth, i 1 ' .. . -; ' " ; On the homo voyago we brought with us as passengers, two gentlomon connected with a Liverpool merchant firm ; and those gentlemen having nothing elso to do, ' filled up a groat portion, of their time by playing cards. Ono night the captain and I bad joined them in a game of whist ; and luck going against me, the small stock of sliver which I had in my pocket soon passed to tho players to whom I was opposed ; When none of them being ablo to give mo chango for a sovereign, I left the cabin for tho purposo of procuring it. On reaching the top of the cabin-stairs, I saw somo ono on deck ; and although I could scarcely dis tinguish tho figure iu tho darkness, , I fanciod it was the engineer on duty, who bad come on dock for a moment to cool himself. I called out, " I say, Mr. Hargravo, can you give me chango for a sovorotgn ?" On hearing my voice, the person whom I had supposed to be Mr. Hargravo, camo to ward mo ; and on getting near cmough to bo recognized, I found it was Fleming, whoso watch bad turned in two hours bo fore. "Halloo, Fleming," I said, "how is this? I thought your watch had turned in." ' "So they have sir," he rcpliod; "but I felt ill and couldn't sleep, and so I came on deck ; and I think you have mistaken me for Mr. Hargravo." " I have," I said. " As it was bis watch, I certainly thought it was lie." " Shall I go and ask him for tho chango for you sir ?" inquired Fleming who ap peared anxious to avoid further conversa tion. "Yes, if you will," I replied handing him tho money. " And if ho can't give it to you, try to get it from somo one else." I can chango it for you, myself," if it willt bo all the same to yo i, sir," said Fleming, in reply to my last observation. " I've a pound or two in my chest, and most of it in silver." . "It will be all tho samo to mo," I said. -" Please to bring it to me below hero." I returned to the cabin to resume play ; and iu two or threo minutes afterwards Fleming brought tho change, which ho laid on the table bosido mo. For tune continuing to run against mo, my small heap of silver soon began to change owners ; and at tho end of an hour's play, having first paid away a number of smaller coins, I threw a half-crown across the tablo and requested tho successful playci to "take it out of that." One of them was about to lift tho half-crown from tho table, when, happen ing to lean back in my seat, a peculiar' ap pearance on the face of tho coin caught my eye.' '. . Instantly springing from my seat, and covering the half-crown with my hands, I exclaimed, "Don't touch it, .whatever you do don't touch it 1 for as I live, that is tho marked half-crown that Marlow had upon him the morning that he was murdered." " The deuce it is !" said the captain, in stantly becoming as excited as myse If. ' " It is indeed," I said, turning' to loavo the cabin, " as I will soon prove to you. In my sea-chest I bad among other in struments,, a magnifying glass, with which in a few minutes I returned to the cabin ; and a glance at the half crown through this instrument convinced the captain that I had mado no mistake, : for there ; beauti fully engraved, was the hand and pen, with its motto, " I perpetuate." 1 ' ' '' Our passcngors had been lost In astonish ment at what of courso apticurcd to them tho remarkably strango conduct of tho cap tain and myself ; and when our excitement at making the discovery bad in somo de gree abated, we gave theso gontlcmen a full explanation of tho circumstances that mado the finding of this piece of money au im portant matter to us. Tho discovery that the marked half-crown had been in Flem ing's possession revived my hopes that I should yet be ablo to prove that he, and not WaUworth had murdered Marlow, anil fully determined me to formally accuse him of tho crimo at tho earliest opportunity ; and as wo wore now within a few days' sail of Liverpool, it became necessary to at once set about forming somo plan of action. Although it did not strike me at tho timo when Fleming told mo lie hod a pound or two iu his chest, that when we bad been searching it, four shillings was all the money wo found;- and from a careful considera tion of this circumstance, I came to tho conclusion that, as was frequently the caso witli seamen's chests, Fleming's contained a secret compartment. On the following day I found that my surmise on this point was correct ; Tor though I did not attempt to discover the method of opening it, I ascertained by dint of sounding and meas uring, that a shallow drawer (which bad iu all probability boon made for tho express purpose of smuggling tobacco and cigars) occupied tho wholo length and breadth of the bottom of the chest, the great apparent thickness of the bottom being cleverly con cealed by a heavy bead. That this drawer
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