The Darlington news. (Darlington, S.C.) 1875-1909, May 16, 1895, Image 3
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CHAPTER XII. (Continued). he. *'l should IHtc to lenow now nanny
•‘Suddenly my eye oauf^bV the (flint fellows in my shoes would hare re
ef a shaded lantern at the other side of fused a share of this loot when they
the moat. It vanished among the knew that they would have their
mound-heaps, and then appeared again throats cut for their pains. Resides, it
coming slowly in our direction. was my life or his when once he was In
‘Here they are!’ I exclaimed.
“ ’You will challenge him, sahib, ns
usual,’ whispered Abdullah. ‘Give him
no cause for fear. Scud 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 onwards,
now stopping and now advancing, un-
the fort. If he had got out, the whole
business would hare come to light, and
I should have been court-martialed
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 1. A fine weight he was,
jack in office, to have rice to eat and i “ 'L-»k here, Small,’ said the major.
when that gorgeous ‘We have been talking it over, my
water to drink,
fortune was ready for him outside, just
waiting to be picked up. H 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 Hlair 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 sort of privileged
person. 1 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 canni-
friend here and 1. and we have come to
the conclusion 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 yon think
liest Now, the question is, what price
would you ask for it? We might be in
clined to take it up. and at least look
into it, if we could agree as to terms.’
lie tried to speak in a cool, careless
way, but his eyes were shining with
excitement and greed.
’“Why. as to that, gentlemen,’ I an
swered, trying also to be cool, but feel
ing us excited os he did, ‘there is only
one bargain which a man in my posi
tion can make. I shall want you to
wnere l coum lay my nano on a weap
on. I sat down in the darkness and un
strapped 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 sec 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 j
bal natives, who were ready enough to help me to my freedom, and to help my
blow a poisoned dart at us if they saw : three companions to theirs. Wc shall
til I could see two dark figures upon i too, for all that he was so short. Ma-
the other side of the moat. I let them . hornet Singh was left to guard the
scramble down the sloping bank,: door. We took him to a place which
splash through the mire, and climb
half-way up to the gate, before I
challenged them.
" ‘Who goes there?’ said I In a sub
dued voice.
“ ‘Friends,’ came the answer. 1 un
covered 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 1 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 np iu a shawl. He
seemed to be all in a quiver with fear,
‘‘WIMT HAVE YOU IX THE
ASKED.
for his hands twitched as if ho had the
ague, and his head kept turning to
left and right with two bright little
twinkling ey-'s, like a mouse when he
ventures out from liii hole. It gave
me the chills to think of killing him,
but I thought of the treasure, and mv
heart set as hard as a flint within me.
M hen he saw my r 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 Achmct. I have traveled
across Rojpootana that I might seek
the shelter of Uiq 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 yon in the bundle?’ I
asked.
“ ‘An iron box,' he answered, ‘which
contains one or two little family mat
ters which are of no value to others,
but which -I should 1* sorry to lose.
Vet 1 am not a beggar; and I shall re
ward yon, young sahib, and year gov
ernor also, if he will give me the shel
ter 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 host to get
it over. * i
" Take him to the main guard,’ said
h The two Sikhs closed in upon him
on each side, and the giant walked be
hind, while they marched in through
the dark gateway. Never was a man
ao compassed round with death. 1 re
mained at the gateway with the Ian
tern.
“1 could hear the measured tramp of
their footsteps sounding through the
lonely corridors. Surldcnly it ceased,
and I heard voices, and a senffie, with
the sound of blows. A moment later
there came, to my horror, a rush of
footsteps coming in my direction,
with the loud breathing of a Tun
ing 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,
end close at his heels, bounding like a
tiger, the great black-bearded Hikh,
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 sec 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 w ith 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 favor or
not."
He stopped and held out his man
acled bands for the whisky and water
which Holmes had brewed for him.
For myself, I confess that I had now
conoeived the utmost horror of the
man, aot only for this cold-blooded
business in which he had been con
cerned, but even more for the some
what flippant and careless way in
which he narrated It. W hatever pun
ishment was in store for him, I felt
that he mightoxpect no sympathy from
mo. 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 hare observed it, for
there was a touch of defiance In his
voice and manner as he proceeded.
L “It was all very bad, no doubt,’ said
the Sikhs had already prepared. It was
some distance off, where a winding pas
sage 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 whore 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 lop. We opened it, and the light
of the lantern gleamed upon a collec
tion 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 sec-und 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 agtites 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. Resides
this, there were nearly three hundred
very fine pearls, twelve of which were
set in a gold coronet, Ry the way,
these last had been taken out of the
chest and were not there when I re
covered it.
"After we had counted our treasures
wc put them back into the chest and
carried them hi 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 advantage. That la
an oath that I can put my hand to my
heart and swear that 1 have never
broken.
“Well, there's no use my telling you,
gentlemen, what came of the Indian
mutiny. After Wilson took Delhi and
Sir Colvin relieved 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 CoL
Greathead came round to Agra and
cleared the I’andies 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 wc 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. I
“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
snspicions folk in the east, however; so
what does this rajah do but take a sec
ond 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 fol
lowed 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. Tills 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 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 miinier, how
ever, was clearly made out, and it was
certain that we must all have bees
concerned in it. The three Sikhs got
penal servitude for life, and I was con
demned to death, though my sentence
was afterward commuted into the
same as the others.
“It was rather a queer position that
we found ourselves In then. There
wc were, all four tied by the leg and
with precious little chance of ever get
ting out again, while we eaeb held a
secret which might have pnt 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 c-f every petty
digging, and
diUhing, and yam-planting, and a
dozen other things to be done, so we
were busy enough all day; though in
the evening we had ^little time to our
selves. Among other things, I learned
to dispense drugs for the surgeon, and
picked np a smattering of his knowl
edge All the time I was on the look-
out for a chance of escape; but ills
and mT* 8 0 , f "f! 1 *? fr ° m an - v ot,W!r Ian > | .
and there Is httle or no wind in those
seas; so it was a terribly difficult job to
£et away.
“The surgeon. Dr. Somorton, was a
»*t, 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
tXn w?? 8 , 1 . 1 , Wind ° W bct ' v< '*' n “s.
Often if I felt lonesome, I used to turn
out the lamp in the surgery, and then,
standi g there, I could hear their talk
and watch their play. 1 am fond of a
hand at cards myself, and it was al-
most as good as having one to watch
the others. There was Maj. Sholto,
Capt. Morstan and Lieut. Bromley
Brown, who were in command of the
native troops, and there was the sur
geon himself, and two or three prison-
officials, crafty old hands who played a
nice sly sate game. A very snug little
party they used to make.
“Well, there was one thing which
Ju 1 ? struek mc - and that was
that soldiers used always to lose and
the civilians to win. Mind, I don’t say
that there was anything unfair, but so
H was. These prison chaps had done
little else than play cards ever since
they had been at the Andafimns, 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. Maj. sholto was the
hardest hit. He used to pay In notes and
gold at first, but soon it came to notes
of hand and Jfor big sums. He some
times 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 os thunder, and he took to
drinking a deal more than was good
for him.
One night he lost even more heavil--
than usual. I was sitting in my hut
when he and Capt. MorsUn 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 say
ing, 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.
Fvo 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 Maj. Sholto
was strolling rm 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 said,
taking his cheroot from his lips.
“T wanted to ask you, sir,’ said I.
•who is the proper person to whom hid
den 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.
‘Quito 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
bold property, so that it belongs to the
first comer.’
“ ‘ To government. Small,’ he stam
mered—‘to government.’ But he said
It in a halting fashion, and I knew in
my heart that I had got him.
“‘Yon think then, sir, that I should
give the information to the governoi
general?’ said I, quietly.
“ ‘Well, well, you must not do any
thing rash, or that you might repent.
Let me hear all about it. Small. Give
me the facts.’
“I told him the i^hole 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
partner-hip, and
share to divide bc-
then take you into
give you a fifth si:
tween yon.’
“ ’Hum!’ said he. ‘A fifth share!
That is not very tempting.’
“ ‘It would come to fifty thousand
apiece,’ said I.
“ ‘Rut how can wc gain your free
dom? You know very well that you
ask an impossibility.’
“ ‘Nothing of the sort,’ I answered.
T have thought it all out to the last de
tail. The only bur to our escape is j
that we can get no boat fit for the voy
age, 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. \Yc
shall engage to get aboard her by
night, and if you will drop us on any
l STRUCK HIM Kt l.U.
his earthly possessions
with him, his arms and his gods.
Among other things, he had a long
bamboo spear, and some Andaman
cocoanut matting, with which I made
....... , , -a sort of a sail. For ten days wc were
part of the Indian const you will have . ,, , ,, .. , ,
‘ beating about, trusting to hick, and on
voni* nnrt. of the l.arimin.’ . . . ... .
'1 WISH TO HAVK YOUR ADVICE, MAJOR.’
could see by the twitch of bis lip that
there was a struggle going on within
him.
“ ’This U 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 ho and his friend
Capt Morstan came to my hut in the
dead of the night with a lantern.
“ T want you just to let Capt. Mor
stan hear that story from your owu
lips. Small,’ said he.
“I repeated It as I had told It before.
“ 'It rings true, eh?" said he. Tt’e
good enough to act upon?*
“Cant. Morstan nodded.-
done your part of the bargain.
“ ’If there were only one,' he said.
“‘None or all,’ I answered. ‘Wo
have sworn it. The four of us must al
ways act together.’
“’You sec, Morstan,’ said he, ‘Small
is a man of bis word. He doss not
flinch from his friends. I think we
may very well trust him.’
It s a dirty business,’ the other an
swered ‘\et, as you say, the money
would save our commii-siona hand
somely.’
“ ‘Well, Small,’ said the major, ‘wc
must, I suppose, try and meet you. We
must first, of course, test the truihof
your story. Tell me w here the box is
hid. ami 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. T must have the con
sent 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 1, ‘they are in
with me. and we all go together.’
“Well, the matter ended by a second
meeting, at which Mahomet Singh, Ab
dullah Khan and Dost Akhar were all
present. We talked the matter over
again, and at last we came to an ar
rangement. 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.
Maj. 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 wc were to make our way, and
finally to return to his duties ( apt.
Morstan was then to apply for leave of
ilwenee. to meet us at Agra, and there
wc 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 np all night with paper and ink,
and by morning 1 had the two charts
all ready, signed with the sign of four
—that is, of Abdullah, Akhar, Mahomet
md 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. Capt. Morstan
showed me his name among a list of
passengers in one of the mail boats
very shortly afterwards. His uncle
hail 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 day I lived only for ven
geance. I thought of It by day and I
nursed it by night. It became an over
powering, absorbing passWh with me.
I eared nothing for the law—nothing
for the gallows. To cscope, to track
down Sholto. to have mv hand upon his
throat—thatwasmyonethought. 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 yon that I had picked np some
thing of medicine. One day when Dr.
Somerton was down with a fever a lit
tle Andaman islander was picked np
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 ven'-moua as a
snake, ami after a couple of months I
got him all right and able to walk. He
took a kind of fancj- 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 bimall the fonder of me.
“Tonga—for that was his name—was
• 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 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 sev
eral gourds of water and a lot of yams,
eocoanuts and sweet potatoes.
“He was staunch and true, was little
Tonga. No man ever had a more faith-
fhl 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 i’athan who
had never missed a chance of in
sulting and injuring me. I had
always vowed vengeance, and now
I had my chance. I was as if
fate had placed him in my way that I
might pay my debt before I left the
island. lie 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 1 see. Then a queer thought
came into my head and showed mo
the eleventh we were picked up by a
trader which was going from Singa
pore to Jiddah with a crowd of Malay
pilgrims. They were a rum crowd, and
Tonga and I soon managed to settle
down among them. They had one
good quality—they let you alone and
asked no questions.
"Well, if 1 were to tell you all the
adventures that my little chum and I
went through, you would not thank
me, for I would havo you here until
the sun was shining. Here and there
we drifted about the world, something
always turning up to keep us from Lon
don. AH 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, wc found ourselves in Eng
land. I had no great difficulty in find
ing where Sholto lived, and I set to
work to discover whether he had real
ized the treasure, or if he still had It.
I made friends with some one who could
kelp me—I name no names, for 1 don’t
want to get anyone else In a hole—and
i aoon found that he still had the jew-
sis. Then I tried to get at him in man*
ways; but he was pretty sly, and hao
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 sec 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 1 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 ha
tred; so 1 scrawled down the sign of the
our ship, no knew, no doubt, mat
there was some screw loose, but he was
m«v iu our secrets. All this is the
truth, and if I tell it ti>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 defense I
cun make is just to hold hack nothing
but let all the world know how badly
I have myself been served by Maj.
• holto, and how innocent I am of the
death of his son.**
‘ A 1 v T r .V remarkable account," said
oherlook Holmes. “A fitting wind-up
an extremely interesting care.
There is nothing at all new to me in
the latter part of your narrative, ex
cept that you brought your own rope.
Ihat 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 bisit.’’
He had lost them all, sir, except the
one which leas iu his blow pipe ut the
time.”
“Ah, of course,” said Holmes. “I
hud not thought of that.”
Ts there any other point which you
would like to ask about?” asked the
couvict, ufi’ubly.
“I think not, thank you," my com-
pnnion answered.
•'Veil, Holmes,” said ffthelney
Jones, “you are a man to be humored,
and we all know that you are a «on-
uoisreur of crime, but duty laduty, and
1 have gone rather far in doing what
you and your friend asked me. I shall
foi l more at ease when we have our
Story-teller here under lock and key.
ilie cab still waits, anil there are two
Inspectors downstairs. 1 am much
obliged t<»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.
“Yon first, Small,” remarked the wary
Jones as they left the room, “rn tal«:
particular care that you don’t club me
with you wooden leg. whatever you
may have done to the gentleman at the
Andaman I des."
"Well, and there ;a the end of our
'- ! ‘Y 1 remarked, after we had sat
f j '-“'le smoking in silence. "I fear
VY 1 ' x! *^ 1 ’ investigation in
wt.,eH I shall have the eh;: nee of study
ing your methods. Miss Morstan has
done me the honor to accept me us a
jusbaml in prospective.”
He gave a most dismal groan. "I
feared as much,” said he, “I really can
not congratulate you.”
I was a little hurt. “Have you any
reason to «be dissatisfied with mv
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 lieen doing. She
hail a decided genius that way; wit
ness the way in which she preserved
that Agra plan from all the other pa
pers of her father Rut love Is an emo
tional thing, and whatever is emo
tional Is opposed to that true cold rea
son which 1 place above all things. I
should never marry myself, lest 1 bias
my judgment.”
“1 trust," said I, laughing, “that my
judgment may survive the ordeal. Rut
you look weary.”
V es, 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 1 should call
laziness alternate with fits of splendid
energy and vigor."
"Yes,” he answered, “there are in
me the makings of a very fine loafer
and also of a pretty spry sort of fellow.
I often think of those lines of old
Goethe:
“Scharto dnss die N’etur nur elnen Mensoh sue
dlrachuf,
Denn zutn wurdlyen Mann war und nun Schtl-
men der stofl."
By the way, apropos of this Norwood
business, yon see that they had, as 1
surmised, a confederate in the house,
who could be none other than Lai Uao,
the butler; so Jones actually has the
undivided honor 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 ft,.Jones gets the credit, pray what
remains for you?"
( “ , ’’ or me," said Sherlock Holmes,
“there still remains the cocaine-bottle.”
And he stretched his long white hand
up for it.
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liST.UILl.SII ED 1812.
CBARLKtiTON, 8. 0.
April, 20 18A3—ly
WE WERE PICKED UP BY
four of us, as it hod 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 snd befooled.
“We earned s living at this time by
my exhibiting poor Tongs st fairs snd
other places as the black cannibal. Ho
would eat raw meat and dance his war
dance; so we always had a hatful of
pennies after a day's work. 1 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, how
ever, came what we had waited for so
long. The treasure had lieen found.
It was up at the top of the house, in
Mr. Bartholomew Sholto’s chemical
la I xira tory. I came at once and had a
look st the place, hut I could not see
how with my wooden leg I was to make
my way up to it. I learned, however,
about a trap-door in the roof,
and also about Mr. Sholto's sup
per hour. It seemed to me that
I could manage the thing easi
ly through Tonga. I brought him
All Free.
Those who have used Dr
King’s New Discovery know its
value, and those who have not
have now the opportunity to
try it Free. Call on the adver
tised Druggist and get a Trial
Bottle, Free. Send your name
and address to H. E. Bucklen
& Co., Chicago, and get a sam
cj „ n _ . pie box of Dr. King’s New Life
out with me with a long rope wound j Pills Free, as well as a copy of
round his waist. He could climb like a Guide to Health and Household
cat, and he soon made bis way through instructor, Free. All of which
the roof, but, as ill luck would have it, j ,
” lomew Sholto was still in the 18 § uari *nteed to do you good
to his oost. Tonga thought he an ? cost F 011 nothing. Sold ta
ne something very clever in kill- | WillcOX & Co’8. Drugstore.
room
had done something very
ing him, for when I came up by the
rope I found him strutting about aa
proud as a peacock. Very much sur
prised was he when I made at him with
the rope’s end and cursed him for a lit
tle bloodthirsty imp. I took the treas
ure-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 bock at last
to those who hod most right to them.
Tonga then pulled up the rope, closed
the window, and mode off the way
that he had come.
“I don’t know that I have anything
else to tell you. I had heard a water
man speak of the speed of Smith's
launch, the Aurora, so I thought she
would be a handy craft for our escape.
I engaged with old Smith, and was to
give him a big sum if he got us safe to
“In all my career,” said the
eminent statesman, “I have
never done anything to be
ashamed of.” “You mean,
sneered the cynic, “that you
have never done anything you
were ashamed of.”—Indianap
olis Journal.
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WARRANTED. PRICE50d3.
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Docs This
BitYou?
The management of the
Equitable Life Assurance
Society in the Department of
the Carolinas, wishes to se
cure a few Special Resident
Agents. Those who are fitted
for this work will find this
{A Rare Opportunity
It isuvrk, however, and those
who succeed best in it possess
character, mature judgment,
tact, perseverance, and the
respect of their community.
Think this matter over care
fully. There’s an unusual
opening for somebody. If it
fits you, it will pay you. Fur
ther information on request.
W. J. Roddey, Manager,
Rock HHI, & C.
»wa»Mo« »»»