one
in the morning
In support of this very vague charge a policeman was called , who gave a graphic account of the beauties of the moonlight on the night in question , and of how he had seen , from his beat on the Parade , a figure move stealthily across the sands to the place where White 's boat was supposed to be . He could n't quite , swear that the figure was White or that the boat was the _ Martha _ but he did n't know who either could be if they were not . The figure might have been a boy , but , as he was a quarter of a mile off , he could n't say . He never left his beat till one in the morning . By that time the tide was in . He did n't actually see Tom White row off in the _ Martha _ but neither of them was to be seen in Templeton next day . After this piece of conclusive evidence the public looked at one another and shook their heads , and thought what wonderful men the Templeton police were for finding out things .