Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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<v— FOUR. CnAPTEB Xt. TITR OKFAT Af(UA TRSARTT!*. Onr captive sat in the cabin opposite to the iron box which he had done so much and waited no lonp to {full!. lie ^asa sunburned, reckless-eyed fellow, w ith a network of lines and wrinkles ,11 over his mahogany features, which told of a hard, open-air life. There was a singular prominence ulsmt his teartled chin which marked n man who was not to be easily turned from his purpose. His age may have been Qfty or tlicreabonts, for ids black, CO rly linir was thickly shot w ith gray, jjis face in repose was not an un pleasing one. though his heavy brows mid aggressive'chin gave him, as I had lately seen, a terrible expression when moved to unger. He sat now with his handcuffed hands upon his lap and his head sunk upon his breast, wjjile he hoked with his keen, twinkling eyes at the box which had been the cause of his ill-doings. It seemed to me that there was more sorrow than anger in his rigid and contained countenance. Ouve he looked up at me with a gleam of something like humor in his eyes. “Well, Jonathan Small,” said Holmes, lighting a cigar, “1 am sorry that it has come to this.” “And so am I,” he answered, frankly. “I don't believe that F can swing over the job. I give you my word on tho hook that 1 never raised ray hand against Mr. Sholto. It was that little hell-hound Tonga who shot one of his | earsed darts into him. I had no part in it, sir. I was us grieved as if it had keen my blopd-relation. I welted tho little devil with the slack end of the rope for it, but it was done, and 1 could not undo it again.” “Have a cigar," said Holmes; “and jou had best take « pull out of my Cask, for you are very wet. How could you expect so small anti weak a man as this black fellow to overpower Mr. Sholto usd hold him while you were climbing the rope? “You seem to know ns much about it ss if you were there, sir. The truth is that I hoped to find the room clear. I knew the habits of the house pretty well, and it was the time when Me Sholto usually went down to his sup per. I shall make no secret of the business. The best defense that I can make is just the simple truth. Xow, if it had been the old major I wool,l have nvung for him with a light h*art. I would have thought no-more of knif ing him than of smoking this cigar. Hut it’s cursed hnrd that I should be lagged over this young Sholto, with whom I had no quarrel whatever." “You are under the charge of Mr. Athclnoy Jones, of Scotland Yard. Ho is going to bring you up to my rooms, and I shall ask you for a true account of the matter. You must make a clean breast of it, for if you do I hope that I may be of use to you. I think I can prove that the poison acts so quickly that the man was dead before ever you reached the room." "That he was, sir. I never got such • turn in my life as when I saw him grinning at me with his head on his shoulder as I climbed through the win dow. It fairly shook ne, sir. I'd have half killed Tonga for it if he had not scrambled off. That was how he came to leave his club, and some of his darts, too, as he tells me, which I dare say helped to put you on onr track; though how you kept on it is more than I can tell. I don't feel no malice against you for it But it does seem a queer thing,” he added, with a bitter smile, “that I. who have a fair claim to nigh upon Mf a million of money should spend the first half of my life building a breakwater in the Andamans, and am like to spend tho other half diggin' drains at Dartmoor. It was an evil day for me when first I chipped eyes spoil the merchant Aehmct and had to do with the Agra treasure, which never brought anything but a curse yet upon the man who owned it. To him it brought murder, to Maj. Sholto It brought fear and guilt, to me It has scent slavery for life." At this moment Athclncy Jones thrust his bread face and heavy shoul ders into the tiny cabin. "Quito a fara- McAm/ "QUITE A FAMILY PARTY," UE RKMABXXD. party,” he remarked “I think 1 shall have a pull at that flask, Holmes. ®ell, I think we may nil congratulate sach other. Pity we didn’t take the other alive; but there was no choice. I *ay. Holmes, you must confess that you out it rather fine. It was all that we oould do to overhaul her.” “All is well that ends well,” said Holmes. “Hut I certainly did not *Oow that the Aurora was such a clipper." “Smith says that she is one of the jastest launches on tho river, and that *‘Uc had had another mnn to help him *1th the engines we should never have oaoght her. He swears he knows noth- 'ng of this Norwood business." ‘Neither he did,” cried our prisoner '•‘‘not a word. 1 chose his launch be- ouuse I heard that she was n ilyer. We *oM him nothing, but we paid him and ho was to get something ndsome If we reached our vessel, the iReralda, at Gravesend, outward k, ” n( ‘ for the Brazils.” ‘"ell, If he has done no wrong we aha 11 see that no wrong comes to him. we are pretty quick in catcmng our men. we are not so quick in condemn; j ln £ them." It was amusing to notice how the consequential Jones was al ready beginning to give himself airs on the strength of the capture. From the | slight smile which played over Sher lock Holmes’ face, I could sec that the i speech had not been lost upon him. “We will be at Voaxhall bridge presently,” said Jones, “and shall land you, Dr. t\ utson, with the treasure- box. I need hardly tell you that l am taking a very grave responsibility upon myself in doing this. It is most irreg ular;- but of course an agreement is an agreement. I must, however, as a mat ter of duty, send an inspector with you, since you have so valuable a charge. You will drive, no doubt?” “Y’es, I shall drive.” “It is a pity there is no key. that we may make an inventory first. You will have to break it open. Where is the key, my man?” “At tho bottom of the river," said i Small, shortly. “Hum! There was no use you giv ing this unnecessary trouble. Wc have had work enough ulreudy through you. However, doctor, I need not warn you to be careful. Bring the box back ! with you to the Baker street rooms You will find us there on our way to j the station.” They landed me at Yauxhall with , my heavy iron box and with a bluff, genial inspector as my companion. A quarter of an hour's drive brought us i to Mrs. Cecil Forrester's The servant seemed surprised at so late a visitor. Mrs. Cecil Forrester was out for the evening, she explained, and likely to j be very late. Miss Morstan, however, was in the drawing-room; so to the drawing-room I went, Ihix in hand, leaving the obliging Inspector in the cab. She was seated by the open window, dressed in some sort of white diaphan ous material, with a little touch of scarlet at the neck and waist. The soft light of a shaded lamp fell upon her as she leaned back in the basket chair, playing over her sweet, grave face, and tinting with a dull metallic sparkle the rich coils of her luxuriant hair, one white arm and hand drooped over the side of the chair, and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy. At the sound of my foot fall she sprang to her feet, however, und a bright flush of surprise and of pleasure colored her pale cheeks “I heard a cab drive up." she said. “I thought that Mrs Forrester had come bath very early, but I never dreamed that it might be you. What news have you brought me?" “I have brought something better than news." said I, putting down the box upon the table and speaking jov ially and boisterously, though my heart was heavy within me. “I have brought you something which is worth all tho news in the world. I have brought you a fortune.” She glanced at the iron box. “Is that the treasure, then?” she asked, coolly enough. “Y’cs, this is the great Agra treasure. Half of it is yours and half Is Thaddcus Sholto’s Y'ou will have a couple of hundred thousand each. Think of that! An annuity of ten thousand pounds. There will be few richer young ladies in England. Is it not glorious?” I think that I must have been rather overacting my delight, and that she detected a hollow ring in my congratu lations, for I saw her eyebrows rise a little, and she glanced at me curiously. “If I have it,” said she, “1 owe it to you.” "No, no,” I answered, “not to me, but to my friend Sherlock Holmes. With'all the will in the world, I could never have followed up a clew which has taxed even his analytical genius. As it was, wc very nearly lost it at the last moment." “Pray sit down and tell me all about it, Dr. Watson,” said she. I narrated briefly what had occurred since I had seen her last—Holmes’ new method of search, the discovery of the Aurora, the appearance of Athclncy Jones our expedition in the evening, and the wild chase down the Thames She listened with parted lips and shin ing eyes to my recital of our adventures When I spoke of the dart which had so narrowly missed us she turned so white that I feared she was about to faint. “It is nothing,” she said, as I hastened to pour her some water. “I am all right again. It was a shock to me to hear that I had placed my friends in such horrible pefll.” "That is all over,” I answered. “It was nothing. 1 will tell you no more gloomy details Let us turn to something brighter. There is the treasure. What could be brighter than that? I got leave to bring it with me, thinking that it would Interest you to be the first to sec it” “It would be of the greatest Interest to me,” she said. There was no eager ness in her voice, however. It struck her, doubtless, that it might seem un gracious upon her part to be indiffer ent to a prize which had cost so much to win. “What n pretty box!' she said, stoop ing over it. “This is Indian work, I suppose?" "Yes; it is Benares metal-work.” “And so heavy 1" she exclaimed, try ing to raise it “The box alone must be of some value. Where is the key? “Small threw it into the Thames,” I answered. “1 must borrow Mrs. For rester’s poker.” There was in the front a thick and broad hasp, wrought in the image of a sitting Buddha. Under this I tii rust the end of the poker and twisted it outward as a lever. The hasp sprang open with a loud snap tt ith trembling fingers 1 flung bock the lid. We both stood gazing in astonishment. The box was empty I No wonder ‘hat it was heavy. The iron work was two-thirds of an inch thick all round. It was massive, well made and solid, like a chest constructed to carry things of great price, but not one shred or crumb of metal or jewelry lav within it. It was absolutely and CompUitciy empty. "The treasure U lo-.t." raid Miss Morstan, calmly. Am l listened to the wov.l . ar l ror'- ized what they meant, a gn at shadow seemed to pass from ray soul. | did not know how this Agra treasure had weighed me down, until now tin t it was finally removed. It was selfish, no doubt, disloyal, wrong, but I could realize nothing save that the golden harrier was gone from between us. "Thank God!” I ejaculated from my very heart. She looked at me with a quick, ques tioning smile. “Why do you say that?" she asked. Because you are within my reach again,” I said, taking her hand. She did not withdraw it. “Because I love you, Mary, as truly as ever a man loved a woman. Uooau. e this treasure. "THE THEASl'RE IS LOST,” SAID V1ISS MORSTAX. these riches, sealed my lips. Now that they are gone I can tell you how I love yon. That is why I said;’Thank God.’” “Then 1 say ’Thank God,’ too,” she whispered, as I drew her to my side. Whoever hail lost a treasure, I knew that night that I had gained one. CHAPTEK XII. THE STRANGE STORY OK JONATHAN SMALL. A very patient man was the inspector in the cab, for it was a weary time lie- fore 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 bail been there." “Mr. Thaddcus Sholto isa rich man,” I said. “He will see that you are re warded, treasure or no.” The inspector shook his head de spondently, however. “It’s a bail job,” he repeated, “and so Mr., Athclncy Jones will think." His forecast proved to be correct, for the (letective looked blank enough when 1 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 op posite to him with his wooden leg cocked over his sound one. As 1 ex hibited 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 docs. 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 my self. I know now that I cannot have the use of it, and I know that they cannot. I have acted oil 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 of 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 pat the loot in a safe place. There are no rupees for you this journey.” “Y'ou 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, sidelong 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, bnt I've learned not to cry over spilt milk.” “This isa very serious mattei, 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 itl 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, rocked with ague, bullied by every cursed black faced policeman who loved to take it out of a white man. That was how 1 earned the Agra treasure; and yon talk to me of justice because 1 cannot bear to feel that I have paid this price only that another may enjoy itl 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 cyea blazed, and the hand-cuffs clanked to gether with impassioned movement of his hands. I could understand, as I saw the fury and the passion ot the man. that it was no groundless or un natural terror which had possessed Maj. Sholto when he first learned that the injured convict was upon hi* track. “You forget that we know nothing i f all this,” said Holmes, quietly. “Wc have not heard your story, and we can not tell how far justice may originally have been on your side.” “Well, sir, you have been very fall spoken to me, though I can see that I have yon to thank that i nave these I bracelets upon my wrists. Still. I bear no grudge for that. It is all fair and aliovc-bnard. If you want to hear my j story 1 have no wish to hold it back. ■ W het I say to you is God's truth, cvciy word of It. Thank you; you can put the glass beside me here, and I'll put m\ li;w to it if 1 am dry. “I am a Worcestershire man myself— born near Pershore. 1 dare say you would find a heap of Smalls living there now If yon were to look. 1 have i i ften thought of taking a look round there, but the truth is that I was never i much of a credit to tho family, and 1 | doubt if they would be ao very glad to [ see me. They were all steady, chapel going folk, small farmers, well known and respected over the country-side, 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 mo.vs over a girl, .and could only got out of it again by tak ing the queen's shilling and joining the Third Buffs which was just starting for India. “I wasn’t destined to do much sol diering, 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 Iloldcr, 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 1 was half way across, and nipped off my right leg just 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 1 should have been drowned if Holder had not caught hold of me and paddled for tho bank. I was five months in hospital over it, and when at hist I was able to limp out of It with this timber toe strapped to my stump I found myself validcd out of the army and unfitted for any active occu pation. “I was, as you cau 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 lie a bless ing in disguise. A man named Abel- white, who had come out there as an indigo-planter, wanted an overseer to look after his coolies und keep them up to their work. He happened to be a friend of our colonel's, who had taken an interest in me kiuce the accident. HOW HE LOST HIS LEO. To make a long story short, 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 knee left to keep a good grip on the saddle. What 1 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. Abelwhite 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 {•eaceful, to all appearance, as Surrey or Kent; the next theie were two hun dred thousand black devils let loose, and tlic oouniry was a perfect hell. Of course you know all about it, gentle men—a deal more than I do, very like ly, 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 northwest provinces. Night after night the whole sky was alight with the burning bungalows, and day after day we had small companies of Euro peans passing through our estate with their wives and children, on their way to Agra, where were the nearest troops. Mr. Abelwhite 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 bookwork and the managing. Well, one fine day tho crash came. I had been away on a distant plantation, and was ridipg 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 wms, 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 cn hU face, quite dead, with an empty revolver in his hand and four Sepoys lying across each other In front of him. 1 reined up my horse, wonder ing which way I should turn, hut at that moment I saw thick smoke curl ing up from Ahelwhitc’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 liees. Wherever the English could collect in little bands they held just the ground that their guns commanded. Every where else they were helpless fugi tives. It was a fight of the millions against the hundreds; and the crudest i part of It was that titese men Ui&t w* ; fought against, foot, lior.se and gun* | ners. were onr own picked troops, ; whom we had taught and trained, I handling our own weapons, and blow- j iug our own bugle calls. At Agra there j were the Third Bengal Fusiliers, some Sikhs, two troops of horse and a Igittery 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 Shnhgungc early in July, and we beat tHera back for a time, but our powder gave out and we had to fall Pack upon the city. Nothing hut the worst news came to us from every side —which is not to lie wondered at. for if you look at the map you will see that we were right in the heart of it. Luck now is rather better than a hundred miles to the east, a - ; 1 Cawnporc about as far to the south. From every poiut 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-worshipers of all sorts. Our hand ful of men were lost among the nar row, winding streets. Our leader moved across the river, therefore, und took up his position in the old fort of Agra. I don't know if any of you gen tlemen have ever read or heard any thing of that old fort. It is a very queer place—the queerest that ever I was in, and I have been iu some rum corners, too. First of all, it is enormous in size. I should think that the inclos ure must be acres and acres. There is a modem part, which took all our gar rison, 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, und which is given over to the scorpions und 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 for folks to get lost in it. For this rea son 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, hut ou the sides and behind there are many doors, and these had to be guarded, of course, in the old quarter us 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, therefore, to tation a strong guard at everyone 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 und two or three natives. I was selected to take charge during cer tain hours of the night of a small Iso lated door upon the southwest side of the building. Two Sikh troopers were placed under my command, und 1 was instructed if anything went wrong to fire my musket, when 1 mightrely 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 passage*! 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 ra w recruit, and a ga mc-legged one at that. For two nights I kept the watch with my I’uujaubees. They were tall, fiercc-looking chaps, Ma homet Singh and Abdullah Khan by name, both old fighting men who had borne arms against us at Chiliunwul- lah. 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 tom toms, and the yells and howls of the rebels, drunk with opium and with bang, were enough to reraiud us all nightof our dangerous neighbors across tiie stream. Every two hours the offi cers of the night used to come round to all the poets, 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 iu the gateway hour after hour in such weather. I tried again and again to make my Sikhs talk, but without much auccess. At two in the morning the rounds passed, and broke for a moment the wearineseof the night- Finding that my companions would cot be led into conversation, I took out my pipe, and laid down my musket to strike » match. In an instant the two Sikha were upon me. One of them snatched my firelock np and leveled 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 fel lows were in league with the reliel and that this was the beginning of > assault. If our door were in the h.im of the Sepoys tho place mus* fall, ai the women and children be treated as they were in Oawupore. Maybe you gentlemen think that I am just making out a case for myself, bnt 1 give you my word that when I thought of that, though I felt the point of the knife at ray throat. I opened my mouth with the inteution ot giving a scream, if it was my last due, 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 whis pered; ‘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 1 knew that if I raised my voice I was a dead man. I could read it lo the fellow’s brown eye*. I waited, there fore, 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 cither 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 Chris tians, or your body this night shall be thrown into the ditch and we shall pass over to onr brothers in the rebel army. There is no middle wsy. Which is it to be, death or life? We can only give you three minutes to decide, for the time is passing, snd all must be done before the rounds come again.' “ ‘How can I decide?' said I. ‘You hare not told me what you want of me. But I tell you now that if it is anything against the safety of the fort 1 will have no truck with it, so you can drive home your knife and welcome.’ “ ‘It U no! .iiujpijgafwt the fort,’ wld he. ‘We only aMP^lu to do that which your countrymen come to this land for. We ask you to be rich. If you will be 1 one of ns this night- we will swear to you upon the naked kulfe. and by the threefold oath which no Sikh was ever known to break, that vou shall have j vour fair share of the loot. A quarter ! of the treasure shall bo yours. We cau j say no fairer.’ "'But what is the treasure, then?' I asked. 'I am as ready to be rich as you can be, if yon will but show me j how it can be done.’ “ ‘Y’ou swear, then.’ said he, ‘by the bone* of your father, by the honor 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, ‘pro vided that the fort is not endangered.’ " ’Then my comrade and 1 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 wc await them. Do you stand at the gate. Mahomet Singh, and give notice of their coining. 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 Hin doo, though you had sworn by all the gods in their false temples, your biood would have been upon tho knife, and your body in the water. But the Sikh knows the Englishman, and the Eng lishman knows the Sikh. Hearken, then, to what 1 have to say, “ ’There is a rajah in the northern provinces who ha* much wealth, though hi- lands are small. Mach 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 gal l rather than spend it. When the troubles broke out he would Is* friends b ith vvitii the lion and the tiger—with the Sepoy and with the company's raj. Soon, however, it seemed to hinx that the white men's day was come, for through all the laud h. 1 could hear of nothing but their death and their overthrow. Y’et, being a careful man, he made such plans!lint- come what might, half at least of his treasures would lie 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 tru' ty servant who, under the guise of a mei- chant, should take it to the fort at Agra, there to lie until the land is at peace. Thus if the rebels won he would heve his money, hut if the company conquer his jewels would be saved to him. Having thus divided his hoard he threw himself into the cause of tiie Sepoys, since they were strong upon his borders. By doing this, mark you, sahib, his property becomes the due of those who have been true to their salt. "‘This pretended mereliant, who travels under the name of Achmet, is now In the city of Agra, and de sires to gain his way into the fort. He has with him as traveling 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, anil has chosen this one for his purpose. Hero he will come presently and here he will find Mahomet Singh and myself await ing him. The place Is lonely, und none shall know of his coming. The world shall know of the merchant Achmet no more, but the great treasure of the I USED TO BTaND OUTSIDE THE GATEWAY, rajah shall be divided among us. YVhat 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 tho merchant lived or died was a thing as light as air to me, but at the talk about the treas ure my heart turned to It. and I thought of what I might do in the old country with it, and how my folks would stare when they saw their ne’er-do-well com ing back with his pockets full of gold moidores. I had, therefore, already made up my mind. Abdullah Khan, however, thiuking that 1 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 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 no, or if we must look upon you as an enemy.’ ‘“I am with you heart and soul," said I. " ’It ia well,’ he answered, handing me back my firelock. ‘Yon 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 mer chant.’ “ ‘Does your brother know, then, of what you will do?’ I oi ked. “ ‘The plan U hla. 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 beginning of the wet season. Brown, heavy clouds were drifting across the sky, and it was hard to see more than a stone-cast A deep moat lay in front of our door, but the water was hi places nearly dried np, and it could easily be crossed. It was ■trange to me to be standing there wKh those two wild Punjaubee* wait ing for the man who was coining to his death. |TO HR COUTIKUKD.J Blood Poison THE BANE OF HUMAN LIFE, Driven Out of the System by the Use of Ayer’s Sarsaparilla “For five years. I was a great sufferer from a most persistent blood disease, none of the various nwdii hit ■ i took being d any help whatever. Hoping that change of climate would lienelit me. I went to <|ul>a, to Florida, and then to Saratoga Springs, where l remained some time drinking the waters. Hut all was no use. At last, being advised by several friends to try Ayer’s Sarsaparilla, 1 began taking it, ami very soon favorable results were m'anilest. To-day I rmi- sider myself a perfectly healthy man, with a good appetite and not tho least trace of my former complaint. To all my friends, and especially voting "men like myself, I recommend Ayer’sSar- sanarilla, if in need of a perfectly reliable blood-pnrifior. —Josk A. Escobar, proprietor Hotel Victoria, Kev West, Fla.; resi dence, W. lOth St., New Y’ork. The Only Admitted for Exhibition AT THE WORLD’S 0000 O 00.0.000 oooooo OOOOOOO Ayer’s ^Sarsaparilla Q O O o FAIR g Docs This Bit You? The management of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in the Department of the Carolina^, wishes to se cure n few Special Resident Agents. 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