The Captain of the Diver

In the village, however, people still continued to be keenly interested,
since Bolton was one of themselves, and, moreover, Widow Anne kept up a
perpetual outcry about her murdered boy. She had lost the small weekly
sum which Sidney had allowed her out of his wages, so the neighbors, the
gentry of the surrounding country, and the officers at the Fort sent
her ample washing to do. Widow Anne in a few weeks had quite a large
business, considering the size of the village, and philosophically
observed to a neighbor that "It was an ill wind which blew no one any
good," adding also that Sidney was more good to her dead than alive. But
even in Gartley the villagers grew weary of discussing a mystery which
could never be solved, and so the case became rarely talked about. In
these days of bustle and worry and competition, it is wonderful how
people forget even important events. If a blue sun arose to lighten
the world instead of a yellow one, after nine days of wonder, man would
settle down quite comfortably to a cerulean existence. Such is the
wonderful adaptability of humanity.

Professor Braddock was less forgetful, as he always bore in mind the
loss of his mummy, and constantly thought of schemes whereby he could
trap the assassin of his late secretary. Not that he cared for the dead
in any way, save from a strictly business point of view, but the capture
of the criminal meant the restitution of the mummy, and--as Braddock
told everyone with whom he came in contact--he was determined to regain
possession of his treasure. He went himself to the Sailor's Rest, and
drove the landlord and his servants wild by asking tart questions and
storming when a satisfactory answer could not be supplied. Quass
was glad when he saw the plump back of the cross little man, who so
pertinaciously followed what everyone else had abandoned.