The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1895-05-08

door and to come upon either side Of
the bed. Then, grasping our hands, he
made a remarkable statement to as, in
a voice which was broken as much by
emotion as by pain. I shall try and
give it to you in his own very words.
"'I have only one thing he said,
which weighs upon my mind at this
supreme moment. It is my treatment
of poor Morstan's orphan The cursed
greed which has been my besetting sin
through life has withheld from her
the treasure, half at least Of which
should have been hers. And yet I have
made no use Of it myself-so blind and
foolish a thing is a~varice. The mere
feeling of possession Eas been so dear
to me that ! could not bear to share it
with another. See that chaplet tipped
with pearls beside the quinine bottle?
Even that I could not bear to part
with, although I had got 1t out with
the design of sending it to her. You,
my sons, will give her a fair share of
the Agra treasure. But send her moth
ing-not even the chaplet-until I am
gone. After all, men have been as bad
as this and have recovered.
"I will tell you how Morstan died.
he continued. He had suffered for
years from a weak heart, but he con-
cealed it from everyone. I alone knew
it. When in India, he and I, through
remarkable chain of circumstances,
came into possession of a considerable
treasure. l brought it over to Eng
land, and on the night Of Morstan's ar
rival he came straight yer here to
claim his share. he walked over from
the station, and was admitted by my
faithful old Lal Chowdar, who is now
dead. Morstan and / had a difference
of opinion as to the division of the
treasure, and we came to heated words.
Morstan had sprung out Of his chair in
a paroxysm Of anger, when he sudden
II pressed his hand to his side, his face
turned a dusky hue, and he fell back
wards, cutting his head against the
corner Of the treasure-chest. When I
stopped over him I found, to my horror,
hat he was dead
For a long time I sat half dis
tracted, wondering what I should do.
My first impulse was, of course, to
call for assistance; but I could not but
recognize that there was every chance
that I would be accused of his murder.
His death at the moment of a quarrel,
and the cash in his head, would be
black against me. Again, an official
inquiry could not be made without
bringing out some facts about the
treasure, which / was particularly
anxious to keep secret. He had told
me that no soul upon earth knew
where he had gone. There seemed to
be no necessity why any soul eve
should know.
81 was still bordering over the mat
ter, when, looking up, I saw my serv-
ant, Lal Chowdar, in the doorway.
he stole in, and bolted the door behind
him "Do not fear, sahib," he said.
"No one need know that you have
killed him. Let US hide him away,
and who is the wisero:" II did not
kill him." said I. Lal Chowdar shook
his head, and smiled. 81 heard it all,
sahib," said he. 81 heard you quarrel.
and I heard the blow. But my lips
are sealed. All are asleepin the house.
Let US put him away together" That
was enough to decide me. If my own
servant could not believe my inno-
cence. how could / hope to make it
good before twelve foolish tradesmen in
a jury box? Lal Chowdar and dis
posed of the body that night. and
within a few days the London papers
were full Of the mysterious disappear
ance OF Capt. Morstan. You will see
from what l say that I can hardly be
blamed in the matter. Ny fault lies in
the fact that we concealed. not
only the body, but also the
treasure, and that l have chung
to Morstan's share as well as to
my own. I wish you, therefore, to
make restitution Put your ars down
to my mouth. The treasure is hidden
liz At this instant horrible change
came over his expression; his eyes
stared wildly, his jaw dropped, and he
yelled in a voice / can never forget:
Keep him out! For Christ's sake keep
him out!v We both stared round at the
window behind us upon which his gaze
was fixed. & face was looking in at US
out of the darkness. We could see the
whitening of the nose where it was
pressed against the glass. 1t was a
bearded, hairy face, with wild, cruel
eyes and al expression Of concentrated
malevolence. My brother and l rushed
towards the window, but the mar was
gone. When we returned to my father
his head had dropped and his pulse had
ceased to beat.
1--WE searched the garden that night,
but found no sign Of the intruder, saw
that just under the window a single
footmark was visible in the fower-bed.
But for that one trace, we might have
thought that our imaginations had cor
jured up that wild, fierce face. We
soon, however, had another and more
striking proof that there yer secret
agencies at work all ar0rnd us. The
window of my fathers room was found