DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22217#0047
THE MURDERED TAILOR'S WATCH. 35
as a chronometer which had belonged to your uncle, a sea-
man."
Chisholm's face was now pale to the very point of his nose,
butthat did not necessarily imply guilt on his part. I have
noticed the look far oftener on the faces of witnesses than
prisoners.
"What? an uncle ! a seaman !" he cried with great energy,
turning an amazed look on his daughter. "I havena an
uncle leeving—no ane. The man must be mad," and this
statement the daughter promptly supported.
"Do you mean to say—can you swear that you never sold
him a watch of any kind—which was rusty in the works through
tying in a sea-chest?"
" Certainly, sir—certainly, I can swear that. I never had a
watch to sell, and I'll tell him that to his face," volubly an-
swered Chisholm, whose brow now was as thick with perspira-
tion as if he had been doing a hard day's work since I entered.
' Onybody that kens me can tell ye I've never had a watch, or
worn ane, for ten year and mair. I wad be only owre glad if
I had."
_ I questioned him closely and minutely, but he declared most
distinctly and emphatically that the whole story of Burge was
an invention. I ought to have been satisfied with this declara-
tion—it was voluble and decided, and earnest as any statement
could be—but I was not. The man's manner displeased me.
J-t was too noisy and hurried, and his looks of astonishment
and innocence were, if anything, too marked. I left the house
m a puzzled state.
What if I should have to deal with two liars?" was my
reflection. " How could I pit them against each other?"
Back I trudged to the Office, and saw Burge at once.
' I have seen the man Chisholm, and he declares that he not
only did not sell you a watch of any kind, but that he has not
nad one in his possession for upwards of ten years."
Burge paled to a deathly hue, and I saw the cold sweat
break out in beads on his temples.
"I was just afraid of that," he huskily whispered, after a
horrible pause. " Chisholm's an awful liar, and will say that
now to save his own skin. There must have been something
wrong about the way he got it. I was a fool to believe his
story. I remember now he made me promise not to say that
had bought the watch from him, or how I got it, in case the
other relatives should find out that he had taken it."
as a chronometer which had belonged to your uncle, a sea-
man."
Chisholm's face was now pale to the very point of his nose,
butthat did not necessarily imply guilt on his part. I have
noticed the look far oftener on the faces of witnesses than
prisoners.
"What? an uncle ! a seaman !" he cried with great energy,
turning an amazed look on his daughter. "I havena an
uncle leeving—no ane. The man must be mad," and this
statement the daughter promptly supported.
"Do you mean to say—can you swear that you never sold
him a watch of any kind—which was rusty in the works through
tying in a sea-chest?"
" Certainly, sir—certainly, I can swear that. I never had a
watch to sell, and I'll tell him that to his face," volubly an-
swered Chisholm, whose brow now was as thick with perspira-
tion as if he had been doing a hard day's work since I entered.
' Onybody that kens me can tell ye I've never had a watch, or
worn ane, for ten year and mair. I wad be only owre glad if
I had."
_ I questioned him closely and minutely, but he declared most
distinctly and emphatically that the whole story of Burge was
an invention. I ought to have been satisfied with this declara-
tion—it was voluble and decided, and earnest as any statement
could be—but I was not. The man's manner displeased me.
J-t was too noisy and hurried, and his looks of astonishment
and innocence were, if anything, too marked. I left the house
m a puzzled state.
What if I should have to deal with two liars?" was my
reflection. " How could I pit them against each other?"
Back I trudged to the Office, and saw Burge at once.
' I have seen the man Chisholm, and he declares that he not
only did not sell you a watch of any kind, but that he has not
nad one in his possession for upwards of ten years."
Burge paled to a deathly hue, and I saw the cold sweat
break out in beads on his temples.
"I was just afraid of that," he huskily whispered, after a
horrible pause. " Chisholm's an awful liar, and will say that
now to save his own skin. There must have been something
wrong about the way he got it. I was a fool to believe his
story. I remember now he made me promise not to say that
had bought the watch from him, or how I got it, in case the
other relatives should find out that he had taken it."