A very patient man was that
inspector in the cab, for it
was a weary time before I rejoined
him. His face clouded over when
I
showed him the empty box.
"There goes the reward!" said
he gloomily. "Where there is
no money there is no pay. This
night's work would have been
worth a tenner each to Sam Brown
and me if the treasure had been
there."
"Mr. Thaddeus Sholto is a rich
man," I said; "he will see that
you are rewarded, treasure or
no."
The inspector shook his head
despondently, however.
"It's a bad job," he repeated; "and
so Mr. Athelney Jones will think."
His forecast proved to be correct,
for the detective looked blank
enough when I got to Baker Street
and showed him the empty box.
They had only just arrived, Holmes,
the prisoner, and he, for they
had changed their plans so far
as to report themselves at a
station upon the way. My companion
lounged in his armchair with
his usual listless expression,
while Small sat stolidly opposite
to him with his wooden leg cocked
over his sound one. As I exhibited
the empty box he leaned back
in his chair and laughed aloud.
"This is your doing, Small," said
Athelney Jones angrily.
"Yes, I have put it away where
you shall never lay hand upon
it," he cried exultantly. "It
is my treasure, and if I can't
have the loot I'll take darned
good care that no one else does.
I tell you that no living man
has any right to it, unless it
is three men who are in the Andaman
convict-barracks and myself.
I know now that I cannot have
the use of it, and I know that
they cannot. I have acted all
through for them as much as for
myself. It's been the sign of
four with us always. Well, I
know that they would have had
me do just what I have done,
and throw the treasure into the
Thames rather than let it go
to kith or kin of Sholto or Morstan.
It was not to make them rich
that we did for Achmet. You'll
find the treasure where the key
is and where little Tonga is.
When I saw that your launch must
catch us, I put the loot away
in a safe place. There are no
rupees for you this journey."
"You are deceiving us, Small," said
Athelney Jones sternly; "if you
had wished to throw the treasure
into the Thames, it would have
been easier for you to have thrown
box and all."
"Easier for me to throw and
easier for you to recover," he
answered with a shrewd, side-long
look. "The man that was clever
enough to hunt me down is clever
enough to pick an iron box from
the bottom of a river. Now that
they are scattered over five
miles or so, it may be a harder
job. It went to my heart to do
it though. I was half mad when
you came up with us. However,
there's no good grieving over
it. I've had ups in my life,
and I've had downs, but I've
learned not to cry over spilled
milk."
"This is a very serious matter,
Small," said the detective. "If
you had helped justice, instead
of thwarting it in this way,
you would have had a better chance
at your trial."
"Justice!" snarled the ex-convict. "A
pretty justice! Whose loot is
this, if it is not ours? Where
is the justice that I should
give it up to those who have
never earned it? Look how I have
earned it! Twenty long years
in that fever-ridden swamp, all
day at work under the mangrove-tree,
all night chained up in the filthy
convict-huts, bitten by mosquitoes,
racked with ague, bullied by
every cursed black-faced policeman
who loved to take it out of a
white man. That was how I earned
the Agra treasure, and you talk
to me of justice because I cannot
bear to feel that I have paid
this price only that another
may enjoy it! I would rather
swing a score of times, or have
one of Tonga's darts in my hide,
than live in a convict's cell
and feel that another man is
at his ease in a palace with
the money that should be mine."
Small had dropped his mask
of stoicism, and all this came
out in a wild whirl of words,
while his eyes blazed, and the
hand- cuffs clanked together
with the impassioned movement
of his hands. I could understand,
as I saw the fury and the passion
of the man, that it was no groundless
or unnatural terror which had
possessed Major Sholto when he
first learned that the injured
convict was upon his track.
"You forget that we know nothing
of all this," said Holmes quietly. "We
have not heard your story, and
we cannot tell how far justice
may originally have been on your
side."
"Well,
sir, you have
been very fair-spoken
to me, though
I can
see that I have you to thank
that I have these bracelets upon
my wrists. Still, I bear no grudge
for that. It is all fair and
above-board. If you want to hear
my story, I have no wish to hold
it back. What I say to you is
God's truth, every word of it.
Thank you, you can put the glass
beside me here, and I'll put
my lips to it if I am dry.
"I
am a Worcestershire
man myself,
born near Pershore.
I
dare say you would find a heap
of Smalls living there now if
you were to look. I have often
thought of taking a look round
there, but the truth is that
I was never much of a credit
to the family, and I doubt if
they would be so very glad to
see me. They were all steady,
chapel-going folk, small farmers,
well known and respected over
the countryside, while I was
always a bit of a rover. At last,
however, when I was about eighteen,
I gave them no more trouble,
for I got into a mess over a
girl and could only get out of
it again by taking the Queen's
shilling and joining the Third
Buffs, which was just starting
for India.
"I
wasn't destined
to do much
soldiering,
however. I
had just
got past the goose-step and learned
to handle my musket, when I was
fool enough to go swimming in
the Ganges. Luckily for me, my
company sergeant, John Holder,
was in the water at the same
time, and he was one of the finest
swimmers in the service. A crocodile
took me just as I was halfway
across and nipped off my right
leg as clean as a surgeon could
have done it, just above the
knee. What with the shock and
the loss of blood, I fainted,
and should have been drowned
if Holder had not caught hold
of me and paddled for the bank.
I was five months in hospital
over it, and when at last I was
able to limp out of it with this
timber toe strapped to my stump,
I found myself invalided out
of the Army and unfitted for
any active occupation.
"I
was, as you
can imagine,
pretty down on my luck at this
time, for I was a useless cripple,
though not yet in my twentieth
year. However, my misfortune
soon proved to be a blessing
in disguise. A man named Abel
White, who had come out there
as an indigo-planter, wanted
an overseer to look after his
coolies and keep them up to their
work. He happened to be a friend
of our colonel's, who had taken
an interest in me since the acci-
dent. To make a long story shon,
the colonel recommended me strongly
for the post, and, as the work
was mostly to be done on horseback,
my leg was no great obstacle,
for I had enough thigh left to
keep a good grip on the saddle.
What I had to do was to ride
over the plantation, to keep
an eye on the men as they worked,
and to report the idlers. The
pay was fair, I had com- fortable
quarters, and altogether I was
content to spend the remainder
of my life in indigo-planting.
Mr. Abel White was a kind man,
and he would often drop into
my little shanty and smoke a
pipe with me, for white folk
out there feel their hearts warm
to each other as they never do
here at home.
"Well,
I was never
in luck's way
long. Suddenly,
without a
note of warning, the great mutiny
broke upon us. One month India
lay as still and peaceful, to
all appearance, as Surrey or
Kent; the next there were two
hundred thousand black devils
let loose, and the country was
a perfect hell. Of course you
know all about it, gentlemen
-- a deal more than I do, very
like, since reading is not in
my line. I only know what I saw
with my own eyes. Our plantation
was at a place called Muttra,
near the border of the Nonhwest
Provinces. Night after night
the whole sky was alight with
the burning bungalows, and day
after day we had small companies
of Europeans passing through
our estate with their wives and
children, on their way to Agra,
where were the nearest troops.
Mr. Abel White was an obstinate
man. He had it in his head that
the affair had been exaggerated,
and that it would blow over as
suddenly as it had sprung up.
There he sat on his veranda,
drinking whisky-pegs and smoking
cheroots, while the country was
in a blaze about him. Of course
we stuck by him, I and Dawson,
who, with his wife. used to do
the book-work and the managing.
Well, one fine day the crash
came. I had been away on a distant
plantation and was riding slowly
home in the evening, when my
eye fell upon something all huddled
together at the bottom of a steep
nullah. I rode down to see what
it was, and the cold struck through
my heart when I found it was
Dawson's wife, all cut into ribbons,
and half eaten by jackals and
native dogs. A little further
up the road Dawson himself was
lying on his face, quite dead,
with an empty re- volver in his
hand, and four sepoys lying across
each other in front of him. I
reined up my horse, wondering
which way I should turn; but
at that moment I saw thick smoke
curling up from Abel White's
bungalow and the flames beginning
to burst through the roof. I
knew then that I could do my
employer no good, but would only
throw my own life away if I meddled
in the matter. From where I stood
I could see hundreds of the black
fiends, with their red coats
still on their backs, dancing
and howling round the burning
house. Some of them pointed at
me, and a couple of bullets sang
past my head: so I broke away
across the paddy-fields, and
found myself late at night safe
within the walls at Agra.
"As
it proved,
however, there
was no great safety there, either.
The whole country was up like
a swarm of bees. Wher- ever the
English could collect in little
bands they held just the ground
that their guns commanded. Everywhere
else they were helpless fugitives.
It was a fight of the millions
against the hundreds; and the
cruellest part of it was that
these men that we fought against,
foot, horse, and gunners, were
our own picked troops, whom we
had taught and trained, handling
our own weapons and blowing our
own bugle-calls. At Agra there
were the Third Bengal Fusiliers,
some Sikhs, two troops of horse,
and a battery of artillery. A
volunteer corps of clerks and
merchants had been formed, and
this I joined, wooden leg and
all. We went out to meet the
rebels at Shahgunge early in
July, and we beat them back for
a time, but our powder gave out,
and we had to fall back upon
the city.
"Nothing
but the worst
news came to
us from every
side --
which is not to be wondered at,
for if you look at the map you
will see that we were right in
the heart of it. Lucknow is rather
better than a hundred miles to
the east, and Cawnpore about
as far to the south. From every
point on the compass there was
nothing but torture and murder
and outrage.
"The
city of Agra
is a great
place, swarming
with fanatics
and fierce devil-worshippers
of all sorts. Our handful of
men were lost among the narrow,
winding streets. Our leader moved
across the river, therefore,
and took up his position in the
old fort of Agra. I don't know
if any of you gentlemen have
ever read or heard anything of
that old fort. It is a very queer
place -- the queerest that ever
I was in, and I have been in
some rum corners, too. First
of all it is enormous in size.
I should think that the enclosure
must be acres and acres. There
is a modern part, which took
all our garrison, women, children,
stores, and everything else,
with plenty of room over. But
the modern part is nothing like
the size of the old quarter,
where nobody goes, and which
is given over to the scorpions
and the centipedes. It is all
full of great deserted halls,
and winding passages, and long
corridors twisting in and out,
so that it is easy enough for
folk to get lost in it. For this
reason it was seldom that anyone
went into it, though now and
again a party with torches might
go exploring.
"The
river washes
along the front
of the old
fort, and so
protects it, but on the sides
and behind there are many doors,
and these had to be guarded,
of course, in the old quarter
as well as in that which was
actually held by our troops.
We were short- handed, with hardly
men enough to man the angles
of the building and to serve
the guns. It was impossible for
us, there- fore, to station a
strong guard at every one of
the innumerable gates. What we
did was to organize a central
guardhouse in the middle of the
fort, and to leave each gate
under the charge of one white
man and two or three natives.
I was selected to take charge
during certain hours of the night
of a small isolated door upon
the south-west side of the building.
Two Sikh troopers were placed
under my command, and I was instructed
if anything went wrong to fire
my musket, when I might rely
upon help coming at once from
the central guard. As the guard
was a good two hundred paces
away, however, and as the space
between was cut up into a labyrinth
of passages and corridors, I
had great doubts as to whether
they could arrive in time to
be of any use in case of an actual
attack.
"Well,
I was pretty
proud at having
this small
command given
me, since I was a raw recruit,
and a game-legged one at that.
For two nights I kept the watch
with my Punjabees. They were
tall, fierce-looking chaps, Mahomet
Singh and Abdullah Khan by name,
both old fighting men, who had
borne arms against us at Chilian
Wallah. They could talk English
pretty well, but I could get
little out of them. They preferred
to stand together, and jabber
all night in their queer Sikh
lingo. For myself, I used to
stand outside the gateway, looking
down on the broad, winding river
and on the twinkling lights of
the great city. The beating of
drums, the rattle of tomtoms,
and the yells and howls of the
rebels, drunk with opium and
with bang, were enough to remind
us all night of our dangerous
neighbours across the stream.
Every two hours the officer of
the night used to come round
to all the posts to make sure
that all was well.
"The
third night
of my watch
was dark and dirty, with a small
driving rain. It was dreary work
standing in the gateway hour
after hour in such weather. I
tried again and again to make
my Sikhs talk, but without much
success. At two in the morning
the rounds passed and broke for
a moment the weariness of the
night. Finding that my companions
would not be led into conver-
sation, I took out my pipe and
laid down my musket to strike
the match. In an instant the
two Sikhs were upon me. One of
them snatched my firelock up
and levelled it at my head, while
the other held a great knife
to my throat and swore between
his teeth that he would plunge
it into me if I moved a step.
"My
first thought
was that these
fellows were
in league
with the rebels, and that this
was the beginning of an assault.
If our door were in the hands
of the sepoys the place must
fall, and the women and children
be treated as they were in Cawnpore.
Maybe you gentlemen think that
I am just making out a case for
myself, but I give you my word
that when I thought of that,
though I felt the point of the
knife at my throat, I opened
my mouth with the intention of
giving a scream, if it was my
last one, which might alarm the
main guard. The man who held
me seemed to know my thoughts;
for, even as I braced myself
to it, he whispered: 'Don't make
a noise. The fort is safe enough.
There are no rebel dogs on this
side of the river.' There was
the ring of truth in what he
said, and I knew that if I raised
my voice I was a dead man. I
could read it in the fellow's
brown eyes. I waited, therefore,
in silence, to see what it was
that they wanted from me.
" 'Listen
to me, sahib,'
said the taller
and fiercer
of the
pair, the one whom they called
Abdullah Khan. 'You must either
be with us now, or you must be
silenced forever. The thing is
too great a one for us to hesitate.
Either you are heart and soul
with us on your oath on the cross
of the Christians, or your body
this night shall be thrown into
the ditch, and we shall pass
over to our brothers in the rebel
army. There is no middle way.
Which is it to be -- death or
life? We can only give you three
minutes to decide, for the time
is passing, and all must be done
before the rounds come again.'
" 'How
can I decide?'
said I. 'You
have not told
me what
you want of me. But I tell you
now that if it is anything against
the safety of the fort I will
have no truck with it, so you
can drive home your knife and
welcome.'
" 'It
is nothing
against the
fort,' said he. 'We only ask
you to do that which your countrymen
come to this land for. We ask
you to be rich. If you will be
one of us this night, we will
swear to you upon the naked knife,
and by the threefold oath which
no Sikh was ever known to break,
that you shall have your fair
share of the loot. A quarter
of the treasure shall be yours.
We can say no fairer.'
" 'But
what is the
treasure then?'
I asked. 'I
am as ready
to be rich as you can be if you
will but show me how it can be
done.'
" 'You
will swear,
then,' said
he, 'by the bones of your father,
by the honour of your mother,
by the cross of your faith, to
raise no hand and speak no word
against us, either now or afterwards?'
" 'I
will swear
it,' I answered,
'provided that the fort is not
endangered.'
" 'Then
my comrade
and I will
swear that
you shall have
a quarter
of the treasure which shall be
equally divided among the four
of us.'
" 'There
are but three,'
said I.
" 'No;
Dost Akbar
must have his
share. We can
tell the tale
to you while we wait them. Do
you stand at the gate, Mahomet
Singh, and give notice of their
coming. The thing stands thus,
sahib, and I tell it to you because
I know that an oath is binding
upon a Feringhee, and that we
may trust you. Had you been a
lying Hindoo, though you had
sworn by all the gods in their
false temples, your blood would
have been upon the knife and
your body in the water. But the
Sikh knows the Englishman, and
the Englishman knows the Sikh.
Hearken, then, to what I have
to say.
" 'There
is a rajah
in the northern
provinces who
has much
wealth, though his lands are
small. Much has come to him from
his father, and more still he
has set by himself, for he is
of a low nature and hoards his
gold rather than spend it. When
the troubles broke out he would
be friends both with the lion
and the tiger -- with the sepoy
and with the Company's raj. Soon,
how- ever, it seemed to him that
the white men's day was come,
for through all the land he could
hear of nothing but of their
death and their overthrow. Yet,
being a careful man, he made
such plans that, come what might,
half at least of his treasure
should be left to him. That which
was in gold and silver he kept
by him in the vaults of his palace,
but the most precious stones
and the choicest pearls that
he had he put in an iron box
and sent it by a trusty servant,
who, under the guise of a merchant,
should take it to the fort at
Agra, there to lie until the
land is at peace. Thus, if the
rebels won he would have his
money, but if the Company conquered,
his jewels would be saved to
him. Having thus divided his
hoard, he threw himself into
the cause of the sepoys, since
they were strong upon his borders.
By his doing this, mark you,
sahib, his property becomes the
due of those who have been true
to their salt.
" 'This
pretended merchant,
who travels under the name of
Achmet, is now in the city of
Agra and desires to gain his
way into the fort. He has with
him as travelling-companion my
foster-brother Dost Akbar, who
knows his secret. Dost Akbar
has promised this night to lead
him to a side-postern of the
fort, and has chosen this one
for his purpose. Here he will
come presently, and here he will
find Mahomet Singh and myself
awaiting him. The place is lonely,
and none shall know of his coming.
The world shall know the merchant
Achmet no more, but the great
treasure of the rajah shall be
divided among us. What say you
to it, sahib?'
"In
Worcestershire
the life of
a man seems
a great and
a
sacred thing; but it is very
different when there is fire
and blood all round you, and
you have been used to meeting
death at every turn. Whether
Achmet the merchant lived or
died was a thing as light as
air to me, but at the talk about
the treasure my heart turned
to it, and I thought of what
I might do in the old country
with it, and how my folk would
stare when they saw their ne'er-do-well
coming back with his pockets
full of gold moi- dores. I had,
therefore, already made up my
mind. Abdullah Khan, however,
thinking that I hesitated, pressed
the matter more closely.
" 'Consider,
sahib,' said
he, 'that if
this man is
taken by
the commandant he will be hung
or shot, and his jewels taken
by the government, so that no
man will be a rupee the better
for them. Now, since we do the
taking of him, why should we
not do the rest as well? The
jewels will be as well with us
as in the Company's coffers.
There will be enough to make
every one of us rich men and
great chiefs. No one can know
about the matter, for here we
are cut off from all men. What
could be better for the purpose?
Say again, then, sahib, whether
you are with us, or if we must
look upon you as an enemy.'
" 'I
am with you
heart and soul,'
said I.
" 'It
is well,' he
answered, handing
me back my
firelock.
'You see that we trust you, for
your word, like ours, is not
to be broken. We have now only
to wait for my brother and the
merchant.'
" 'Does
your brother
know, then,
of what you
will do?' I
asked.
" 'The
plan is his.
He has devised
it. We will
go to the
gate and share the watch with
Mahomet Singh.'
"The
rain was still
falling steadily,
for it was
just the
begin- ning of the wet season.
Brown, heavy clouds were drifting
across the sky, and it was hard
to see more than a stonecast.
A deep moat lay in front of our
door, but the water was in places
nearly dried up, and it could
easily be crossed. It was strange
to me to be standing there with
those two wild Punjabees waiting
for the man who was coming to
his death.
"Suddenly
my eye caught
the glint of
a shaded lantern
at
the other side of the moat. It
vanished among the mound-heaps,
and then appeared again coming
slowly in our direction.
" 'Here
they are!'
I exclaimed.
" 'You
will challenge
him, sahib,
as usual,'
whispered Abdul-
lah. 'Give him no cause for fear.
Send us in with him, and we shall
do the rest while you stay here
on guard. Have the lantern ready
to uncover, that we may be sure
that it is indeed the man.'
"The
light had flickered
onward, now
stopping and
now advancing,
until I could see two dark figures
upon the other side of the moat.
I let them scramble down the
sloping bank, splash through
the mire, and climb halfway up
to the gate before I challenged
them.
" 'Who
goes there?'
said I in a
subdued voice.
" 'Friends,'
came the answer.
I uncovered my lantern and threw
a flood of light upon them. The
first was an enormous Sikh with
a black beard which swept nearly
down to his cum- merbund. Outside
of a show I have never seen so
tall a man. The other was a little
fat, round fellow with a great
yellow turban and a bundle in
his hand, done up in a shawl.
He seemed to be all in a quiver
with fear, for his hands twitched
as if he had the ague, and his
head kept turning to left and
right with two bright little
twinkling eyes, like a mouse
when he ventures out from his
hole. It gave me the chills to
think of killing him, but I thought
of the treasure, and my heart
set as hard as a flint within
me. When he saw my white face
he gave a little chirrup of joy
and came running up towards me.
" 'Your
protection,
sahib,' he
panted, 'your
protection
for
the unhappy merchant Achmet.
I have travelled across Rajpootana,
that I might seek the shelter
of the fort at Agra. I have been
robbed and beaten and abused
because I have been the friend
of the Company. It is a blessed
night this when I am once more
in safety -- I and my poor possessions.'
" 'What
have you in
the bundle?'
I asked.
" 'An
iron box,'
he answered,
'which contains one or two little
family matters which are of no
value to others but which I should
be sorry to lose. Yet I am not
a beggar; and I shall reward
you, young sahib, and your governor
also if he will give me the shelter
I ask.'
"I
could not trust
myself to speak
longer with
the man. The
more I looked at his fat, frightened
face, the harder did it seem
that we should slay him in cold
blood. It was best to get it
over.
" 'Take
him to the
main guard,'
said I. The two Sikhs closed
in upon him on each side, and
the giant walked behind, while
they marched in through the dark
gateway. Never was a man so compassed
round with death. I remained
at the gateway with the lantern.
"I
could hear
the measured
tramp of their footsteps sounding
through the lonely corridors.
Suddenly it ceased, and I heard
voices and a scuffle, with the
sound of blows. A moment later
there came, to my horror, a rush
of footsteps coming in my direction,
with a loud breathing of a running
man. I turned my lantern down
the long straight passage, and
there was the fat man, running
like the wind, with a smear of
blood across his face, and close
at his heels, bounding like a
tiger, the great black-bearded
Sikh, with a knife flashing in
his hand. I have never seen a
man run so fast as that little
merchant. He was gaining on the
Sikh, and I could see that if
he once passed me and got to
the open air he would save himself
yet. My heart softened to him,
but again the thought of his
treasure turned me hard and bitter.
I cast my firelock between his
legs as he raced past, and he
rolled twice over like a shot
rabbit. Ere he could stagger
to his feet the Sikh was upon
him and buried his knife twice
in his side. The man never uttered
moan nor moved muscle but lay
where he had fallen. I think
myself that he may have broken
his neck with the fall. You see,
gentlemen, that I am keeping
my promise. I am telling you
every word of the business just
exactly as it happened, whether
it is in my favour or not."
He stopped and held out his
manacled hands for the whisky
and water which Holmes had brewed
for him. For myself, I confess
that I had now conceived the
utmost horror of the man not
only for this cold-blooded business
in which he had been concerned
but even more for the somewhat
flippant and careless way in
which he narrated it. Whatever
punishment was in store for him,
I felt that he might expect no
sympathy from me. Sherlock Holmes
and Jones sat with their hands
upon their knees, deeply interested
in the story but with the same
disgust written upon their faces.
He may have observed it, for
there was a touch of defiance
in his voice and manner as he
proceeded.
"It was all very bad, no doubt," said
he. "I should like to know how
many fellows in my shoes would
have refused a share of this
loot when they knew that they
would have their throats cut
for their pains. Besides, it
was my life or his when once
he was in the fort. If he had
got out, the whole business would
come to light, and I should have
been court-martialled and shot
as likely as not; for people
were not very lenient at a time
like that."
"Go on with your story," said
Holmes shortly.
"Well,
we carried
him in, Abdullah,
Akbar, and I. A fine weight he
was, too, for all that he was
so shorrt. Mahomet Singh was
left to guard the door. We took
him to a place which the Sikhs
had already prepared. It was
some distance off, where a winding
passage leads to a great empty
hall, the brick walls of which
were all crumbling to pieces.
The earth floor had sunk in at
one place, making a natural grave,
so we left Achmet the merchant
there, having first covered him
over with loose bricks. This
done, we all went back to the
treasure.
"It
lay where he
had dropped
it when he was first attacked.
The box was the same which now
lies open upon your table. A
key was hung by a silken cord
to that carved handle upon the
top. We opened it, and the light
of the lantern gleamed upon a
collection of gems such as I
have read of and thought about
when I was a little lad at Pershore.
It was blinding to look upon
them. When we had feasted our
eyes we took them all out and
made a list of them. There were
one hundred and forty- three
diamonds of the first water,
including one which has been
called, I believe, 'the Great
Mogul,' and is said to be the
second largest stone in existence.
Then there were ninety-seven
very fine emeralds, and one hundred
and seventy rubies, some of which,
however, were small. There were
forty carbuncles, two hundred
and ten sapphires, sixty-one
agates, and a great quantity
of beryls, onyxes, cats'-eyes,
turquoises, and other stones,
the very names of which I did
not know at the time, though
I have become more familiar with
them since. Besides this, there
were nearly three hundred very
fine pearls, twelve of which
were set in a gold coronet. By
the way, these last had been
taken out of the chest, and were
not there when I recovered it.
"After
we had counted
our treasures
we put them back into the chest
and carried them to the gateway
to show them to Mahomet Singh.
Then we solemnly renewed our
oath to stand by each other and
be true to our secret. We agreed
to conceal our loot in a safe
place until the country should
be at peace again, and then to
divide it equally among ourselves.
There was no use dividing it
at present, for if gems of such
value were found upon us it would
cause suspicion, and there was
no privacy in the fort nor any
place where we could keep them.
We carried the box, therefore,
into the same hall where we had
buried the body, and there, under
certain bricks in the best-preserved
wall, we made a hollow and put
our treasure. We made careful
note of the place, and next day
I drew four plans, one for each
of us, and put the sign of the
four of us at the bottom, for
we had sworn that we should each
always act for all, so that none
might take advan- tage. That
is an oath that I can put my
hand to my heart and swear that
I have never broken.
"Well,
there's no
use my telling
you gentlemen what came of the
Indian mutiny. After Wilson took
Delhi and Sir Colin re- lieved
Lucknow the back of the business
was broken. Fresh troops came
pouring in, and Nana Sahib made
himself scarce over the frontier.
A flying column under Colonel
Greathed came round to Agra and
cleared the Pandies away from
it. Peace seemed to be settling
upon the country, and we four
were beginning to hope that the
time was at hand when we might
safely go off with our shares
of the plunder. In a moment,
however, our hopes were shattered
by our being arrested as the
murderers of Achmet.
"It
came about
in this way.
When the rajah put his jewels
into the hands of Achmet he did
it because he knew that he was
a trusty man. They are suspicious
folk in the East, however: so
what does this rajah do but take
a second even more trusty servant
and set him to play the spy upon
the first. This second man was
ordered never to let Achmet out
of his sight, and he followed
him like his shadow. He went
after him that night and saw
him pass through the doorway.
Of course he thought he had taken
refuge in the fort and applied
for admission there himself next
day, but could find no trace
of Achmet. This seemed to him
so strange that he spoke about
it to a sergeant of guides, who
brought it to the ears of the
commandant. A thorough search
was quickly made, and the body
was discovered. Thus at the very
moment that we thought that all
was safe we were all four seized
and brought to trial on a charge
of murder -- three of us because
we had held the gate that night,
and the fourth because he was
known to have been in the company
of the murdered man. Not a word
about the jewels came out at
the trial, for the rajah had
been deposed and driven out of
India: so no one had any particular
interest in them. The murder,
however, was clearly made out,
and it was certain that we must
all have been con- cerned in
it. The three Sikhs got penal
servitude for life, and I was
condemned to death, though my
sentence was afterwards commuted
to the same as the others.
"It
was rather
a queer position
that we found ourselves in then.
There we were all four tied by
the leg and with precious little
chance of ever getting out again,
while we each held a secret which
might have put each of us in
a palace if we could only have
made use of it. It was enough
to make a man eat his heart out
to have to stand the kick and
the cuff of every petty jack-in-office.
to have rice to eat and water
to drink, when that gorgeous
fortune was ready for him outside,
just waiting to be picked up.
It might have driven me mad;
but I was always a pretty stubborn
one, so I just held on and bided
my time.
"At
last it seemed
to me to have
come. I was
changed from
Agra to Madras, and from there
to Blair Island in the Andamans.
There are very few white convicts
at this settlement, and, as I
had behaved well from the first,
I soon found myself a son of
privileged person. I was given
a hut in Hope Town, which is
a small place on the slopes of
Mount Harriet, and I was left
pretty much to myself. It is
a dreary, fever-stricken place,
and all beyond our little clearings
was infested with wild cannibal
na- tives, who were ready enough
to blow a poisoned dart at us
if they saw a chance. There was
digging and ditching and yam-
planting, and a dozen other things
to be done, so we were busy enough
all day; though in the evening
we had a little time to ourselves.
Among other things, I, learned
to dispense drugs for the surgeon,
and picked up a smattering of
his knowledge. All the time I
was on the lookout for a chance
to escape; but it is hundreds
of miles from any other land,
and there is little or no wind
in those seas: so it was a terribly
difficult job to get away.
"The
surgeon, Dr.
Somerton, was
a fast, sporting
young chap,
and the other young officers
would meet in his rooms of an
evening and play cards. The surgery,
where I used to make up my drugs,
was next to his sitting-room,
with a small window between us.
Often, if I felt lonesome, I
used to turn out the lamp in
the surgery, and then, standing
there, I could hear their talk
and watch their play. I am fond
of a hand at cards myself, and
it was almost as good as having
one to watch the others. There
was Major Sholto, Captain Morstan,
and Lieutenant Bromley Brown,
who were in command of the native
troops, and there was the surgeon
himself, and two or three prison-officials,
crafty old hands who played a
nice sly safe game. A very snug
little party they used to make.
"Well,
there was one
thing which
very soon struck
me, and
that was that the soldiers used
always to lose and the civilians
to win. Mind, I don't say there
was anything unfair, but so it
was. These prison-chaps had done
little else than play cards ever
since they had been at the Andamans,
and they knew each other's game
to a point, while the others
just played to pass the time
and threw their cards down anyhow.
Night after night the soldiers
got up poorer men, and the poorer
they got the more keen they were
to play. Major Sholto was the
hardest hit. He used to pay in
notes and gold at first, but
soon it came to notes of hand
and for big sums. He sometimes
would win for a few deals just
to give him heart, and then the
luck would set in against him
worse than ever. All day he would
wander about as black as thunder,
and he took to drinking a deal
more than was good for him.
"One
night he lost
even more heavily
than usual.
I was sitting
in my hut when he and Captain
Morstan came stumbling along
on the way to their quarters.
They were bosom friends, those
two, and never far apart. The
major was raving about his losses.
" 'It's
all up, Morstan,'
he was saying
as they passed
my
hut. 'I shall have to send in
my papers. I am a ruined man.'
" 'Nonsense,
old chap!'
said the other,
slapping him
upon
the shoulder. ~I've had a nasty
facer myself. but --' That was
all I could hear, but it was
enough to set me thinking.
"A
couple of days
later Major
Sholto was strolling on the beach:
so I took the chance of speaking
to him.
" 'I
wish to have
your advice,
Major,' said I.
" 'Well,
Small, what
is it?' he
asked, taking
his cheroot
from his lips.
" 'I
wanted to ask
you, sir,'
said I, 'who
is the proper
person
to whom hidden treasure should
be handed over. I know where
half a million worth lies, and,
as I cannot use it myself, I
thought perhaps the best thing
that I could do would be to hand
it over to the proper authorities,
and then perhaps they would get
my sentence shortened for me.'
" 'Half
a million,
Small?' he
gasped, looking
hard at me
to see if I was in earnest.
" 'Quite
that, sir --
in jewels and
pearls. It
lies there
ready
for anyone. And the queer thing
about it is that the real owner
is outlawed and cannot hold property,
so that it belongs to the first
comer.'
" 'To
government,
Small,' he
stammered,
'to government.'
But
he said it in a halting fashion,
and I knew in my heart that I
had got him.
" 'You
think, then,
sir, that I
should give
the information
to the governor-general?' said
I quietly.
" 'Well,
well, you must
not do anything
rash, or that
you
might repent. Let me hear all
about it, Small. Give me the
facts.'
"I
told him the
whole story,
with small changes, so that he
could not identify the places.
When I had finished he stood
stock still and full of thought.
I could see by the twitch of
his lip that there was a struggle
going on within him.
" 'This
is a very important
matter, Small,' he said at last.
'You must not say a word to anyone
about it, and I shall see you
again soon.'
"Two
nights later
he and his
friend, Captain
Morstan, came
to my hut in the dead of the
night with a lantern.
" 'I
want you just
to let Captain
Morstan hear that story from
your own lips, Small,' said he.
"I
repeated it
as I had told
it before.
" 'It
rings true,
eh?' said he.
'It's good
enough to act
upon?'
"Captain
Morstan nodded.
" 'Look
here, Small,'
said the major.
'We have been
talking
it over, my friend here and I,
and we have come to the conclu-
sion that this secret of yours
is hardly a government matter,
after all, but is a private concern
of your own, which of course
you have the power of disposing
of as you think best. Now the
question is, What price would
you ask for it? We might be inclined
to take it up, and at least look
into it, if we could agree as
to terms.' He tried to speak
in a cool, careless way, but
his eyes were shining with excitement
and greed.
" 'Why,
as to that,
gentlemen,'
I answered, trying also to be
cool but feeling as excited as
he did, 'there is only one bargain
which a man in my position can
make. I shall want you to help
me to my freedom, and to help
my three companions to theirs.
We shall then take you into partnership
and give you a fifth share to
divide between you.'
" 'Hum!'
said he. 'A
fifth share!
That is not
very tempting.'
" 'It
would come
to fifty thousand
apiece,' said I.
" 'But
how can we
gain your freedom?
You know very
well that
you ask an impossibility.'
" 'Nothing
of the sort,'
I answered.
'I have thought
it
all out to the last detail. The
only bar to our escape is that
we can get no boat fit for the
voyage, and no provisions to
last us for so long a time. There
are plenty of little yachts and
yawls at Calcutta or Madras which
would serve our turn well. Do
you bring one over. We shall
engage to get aboard her by night,
and if you will drop us on any
part of the Indian coast you
will have done your part of the
bargain.'
" 'If
there were
only one,'
he said.
" 'None
or all,' I
answered. 'We
have sworn
it. The four
of
us must always act together.'
" 'You
see, Morstan,'
said he, 'Small
is a man of
his word.
He does not flinch from his friends.
I think we may very well trust
him.'
" 'It's
a dirty business,'
the other answered. 'Yet, as
you say, the money will save
our commissions handsomely.'
" 'Well,
Small,' said
the major,
'we must, I
suppose, try
and
meet you. We must first, of course,
test the truth of your story.
Tell me where the box is hid,
and I shall get leave of absence
and go back to India in the monthly
relief-boat to inquire into the
affair.'
" 'Not
so fast,' said
I, growing
colder as he
got hot. 'I
must
have the consent of my three
comrades. I tell you that it
is four or none with us.'
" 'Nonsense!'
he broke in.
'What have three black fellows
to do with our agreement?'
" 'Black
or blue,' said
I, 'they are
in with me,
and we
all go together.'
"Well,
the matter
ended by a
second meeting,
at which Mahomet
Singh, Abdullah Khan, and Dost
Akbar were all pres- ent. We
talked the matter over again,
and at last we came to an arrangement.
We were to provide both the officers
with charts of the part of the
Agra fort, and mark the place
in the wall where the treasure
was hid. Major Sholto was to
go to India to test our story.
If he found the box he was to
leave it there, to send out a
small yacht provisioned for a
voyage, which was to lie off
Rutland Island, and to which
we were to make our way, and
finally to return to his duties.
Captain Morstan was then to apply
for leave of absence, to meet
us at Agra, and there we were
to have a final division of the
treasure, he taking the major's
share as well as his own. All
this we sealed by the most solemn
oaths that the mind could think
or the lips utter. I sat up all
night with paper and ink, and
by the morning I had the two
charts all ready, signed with
the sign of four -- that is,
of Abdullah, Akbar, Mahomet,
and myself.
"Well,
gentlemen,
I weary you
with my long story, and I know
that my friend Mr. Jones is impatient
to get me safely stowed in chokey.
I'll make it as short as I can.
The villain Sholto went off to
India, but he never came back
again. Captain Morstan showed
me his name among a list of passengers
in one of the mail-boats very
shortly afterwards. His uncle
had died, leaving him a fortune,
and he had left the Army; yet
he could stoop to treat five
men as he had treated us. Morstan
went over to Agra shortly afterwards
and found, as we expected, that
the treasure was indeed gone.
The scoundrel had stolen it all
without carrying out one of the
conditions on which we had sold
him the secret. From that I lived
only for vengeance. I thought
of it by day and I nursed it
by night. It became an overpowering,
absorb- ing passion with me.
I cared nothing for the law --
nothing for the gallows. To escape,
to track down Sholto, to have
my hand upon his throat -- that
was my one thought. Even the
Agra treasure had come to be
a smaller thing in my mind than
the slaying of Sholto.
"Well,
I have set
my mind on
many things
in this life,
and
never one which I did not carry
out. But it was weary years before
my time came. I have told you
that I had picked up something
of medicine. One day when Dr.
Somerton was down with a fever
a little Andaman Islander was
picked up by a convict-gang in
the woods. He was sick to death
and had gone to a lonely place
to die. I took him in hand, though
he was as venomous as a young
snake, and after a couple of
months I got him all right and
able to walk. He took a kind
of fancy to me then, and would
hardly go back to his woods,
but was always hanging about
my hut. I learned a little of
his lingo from him, and this
made him all the fonder of me.
"Tonga
-- for that
was his name
-- was a fine
boatman and
owned a big, roomy canoe of his
own. When I found that he was
devoted to me and would do anything
to serve me, I saw my chance
of escape. I talked it over with
him. He was to bring his boat
round on a certain night to an
old wharf which was never guarded,
and there he was to pick me up.
I gave him directions to have
several gourds of water and a
lot of yams, cocoanuts, and sweet
potatoes.
"He
was staunch
and true, was
little Tonga. No man ever had
a more faithful mate. At the
night named he had his boat at
the wharf. As it chanced, however,
there was one of the convict-
guard down there -- a vile Pathan
who had never missed a chance
of insulting and injuring me.
I had always vowed vengeance,
and now I had my chance. It was
as if fate had placed him in
my way that I might pay my debt
before I left the island. He
stood on the bank with his back
to me, and his carbine on his
shoulder. I looked about for
a stone to beat out his brains
with, but none could I see.
"Then
a queer thought
came into my
head and showed
me where
I could lay my hand on a weapon.
I sat down in the darkness and
unstrapped my wooden leg. With
three long hops I was on him.
He put his carbine to his shoulder,
but I struck him full, and knocked
the whole front of his skull
in. You can see the split in
the wood now where I hit him.
We both went down together, for
I could not keep my balance;
but when I got up I found him
still lying quiet enough. I made
for the boat, and in an hour
we were well out at sea. Tonga
had brought all his earthly possessions
with him, his arms and his gods.
Among other things, he had a
long bamboo spear, and some Andaman
cocoa- nut matting, with which
I made a sort of a sail. For
ten days we were beating about,
trusting to luck, and on the
eleventh we were picked up by
a trader which was going from
Singapore to Jiddah with a cargo
of Malay pilgrims. They were
a rum crowd, and Tonga and I
soon managed to settle down among
them. They had one very good
quality: they let you alone and
asked no questions.
"Well,
if I were to
tell you all
the adventures
that my little
chum and I went through, you
would not thank me, for I would
have you here until the sun was
shining. Here and there we drifted
about the world, something always
turning up to keep us from London.
All the time, however, I never
lost sight of my purpose. I would
dream of Sholto at night. A hundred
times I have killed him in my
sleep. At last, however, some
three or four years ago, we found
ourselves in England. I had no
great difficulty in finding where
Sholto lived, and I set to work
to discover whether he had realized
on the treasure, or if he still
had it. I made friends with someone
who could help me -- I name no
names, for I don't want to get
anyone else in a hole -- and
I soon found that he still had
the jewels. Then I tried to get
at him in many ways; but he was
pretty sly and had always two
prize- fighters, besides his
sons and his khitmutgar, on guard
over him.
"One
day, however,
I got word
that he was
dying. I hurried
at once to the garden, mad that
he should slip out of my clutches
like that, and, looking through
the window, I saw him lying in
his bed, with his sons on each
side of him. I'd have come through
and taken my chance with the
three of them, only even as I
looked at him his jaw dropped,
and I knew that he was gone.
I got into his room that same
night, though, and I searched
his papers to see if there was
any record of where he had hidden
our jewels. There was not a line,
however, so I came away, bitter
and savage as a man could be.
Before I left I bethought me
that if I ever met my Sikh friends
again it would be a satisfaction
to know that I had left some
mark of our hatred; so I scrawled
down the sign of the four of
us, as it had been on the chart,
and I pinned it on his bosom.
It was too much that he should
be taken to the grave without
some token from the men whom
he had robbed and befooled.
"We
earned a living
at this time
by my exhibiting
poor Tonga
at fairs and other such places
as the black cannibal. He would
eat raw meat and dance his war-dance:
so we always had a hatful of
pennies after a day's work. I
still heard all the news from
Pondicherry Lodge, and for some
years there was no news to hear,
except that they were hunting
for the treasure. At last, however,
came what we had waited for so
long. The treasure had been found.
It was up at the top of the house
in Mr. Banholomew Sholto's chemical
laboratory. I came at once and
had a look at the place, but
I could not see how, with my
wooden leg, I was to make my
way up to it. I learned, however,
about a trapdoor in the roof,
and also about Mr. Sholto's supper-hour.
It seemed to me that I could
manage the thing easily through
Tonga. I brought him out with
me with a long rope wound round
his waist. He could climb like
a cat, and he soon made his way
through the roof, but, as ill
luck would have it, Bartholomew
Sholto was still in the room,
to his cost. Tonga thought he
had done something very clever
in killing him, for when I came
up by the rope I found him strutting
about as proud as a peacock.
Very much surprised was he when
I made at him with the rope's
end and cursed him for a little
bloodthirsty imp. I took the
treasure box and let it down,
and then slid down myself, having
first left the sign of the four
upon the table to show that the
jewels had come back at last
to those who had most right to
them. Tonga then pulled up the
rope, closed the window, and
made off the way that he had
come
"I
don't know
that I have
anything else
to tell you.
I had heard
a waterman speak of the speed
of Smith's launch, the Aurora,
so l thought she would be a handy
craft for our escape with old
Smith, and was to give him a
big sum if he got us safe to
our ship. He knew, no doubt,
that there was some screw loose,
but he was not in our secrets.
All this is the truth, and if
I tell it to you, gentlemen,
it is not to amuse you -- for
you have not done me a very good
turn -- but it is because I believe
the best defence I can make is
just to hold back nothing, but
let all the world know how badly
I have myself been served by
Major Sholto, and how innocent
I am of the death of his son."
"A very remarkable account," said
Sherlock Holmes. "A fitting windup
to an extremely interesting case.
There is nothing at all new to
me in the latter part of your
narrative except that you brought
your own rope. That I did not
know. By the way, I had hoped
that Tonga had lost all his darts;
yet he managed to shoot one at
us in the boat."
"He
had lost them
all, sir, except
the one which
was in his
blow-pipe at the time."
"Ah, of course," said Holmes. "I
had not thought of that."
"Is there any other point which
you would like to ask about?" asked
the convict affably.
"I think not, thank you," my
companion answered.
"Well, Holmes," said Athelney
Jones, "you are a man to be humoured,
and we all know that you are
a connoisseur of crime; but duty
is duty, and I have gone rather
far in doing what you and your
friend asked me. I shall feel
more at ease when we have our
story-teller here safe under
lock and key. The cab still waits,
and there are two inspectors
downstairs. I am much obliged
to you both for your assistance.
Of course you will be wanted
at the trial. Good-night to you."
"Good-night, gentlemen both," said
Jonathan Small.
"You first, Small," remarked
the wary, Jones as they left
the room. "I'll take particular
care that you don't club me with
your wooden leg, whatever you
may have done to the gentleman
at the Andaman Isles."
"Well, and there is the end
of our little drama," I remarked
after we had sat some time smoking
in silence. "I fear that it may
be the last investigation in
which I shall have the chance
of studying your methods. Miss
Morstan has done me the honour
to accept me as a husband in
prospective."
He gave a most dismal groan.
"I feared as much," said he. "I
really cannot congratulate you."
I was a little hurt.
"Have you any reason to be
dissatisfied with my choice?" I
asked.
"Not
at all. I think
she is one
of the most
charming young
ladies I ever met and might have
been most useful in such work
as we have been doing. She had
a decided genius that way witness
the way in which she preserved
that Agra plan from ali the other
papers of her father. But love
is an emotional thing, and whatever
is emotional is opposed to that
true cold reason which I place
above all things. I should never
marry myself, lest I bias my
judgment."
"I trust," said I, laughing, "that
my judgment may survive the ordeal.
But you look weary."
"Yes,
the reaction
is already
upon me. I
shall be as
limp as
a rag for a week."
"Strange," said I, "how
terms of what
in another
man I should
call laziness alternate with
your fits of splendid energy
and vigour."
"Yes," he answered, "there
are in me the makings of a very
fine loafer, and also of a pretty
spry, sort of a fellow. I often
think of those lines of old Goethe:
"Schade dass
die Natur nur einen Mensch
aus dir schuf,
Denn zum wurdigen Mann war
und zum Schelmen der Stoff.
By the way,
apropos of this Norwood business,
you see that
they had, as I surmised, a confederate
in the house, who could be none
other than Lal Rao, the butler:
so Jones actually has the undivided
honour of having caught one fish
in his great haul."
"The division seems rather
unfair," I remarked. "You have
done all the work in this business.
I get a wife out of it, Jones
gets the credit, pray what remains
for you?"
"For me," said Sherlock Holmes, "there
still remains the cocaine-bottle." And
he stretched his long white hand
up for it. |