St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1895-09-28
cHAPTER XII.

THE STRANGE STORY OF JONATHAN SMALL.
A very patient man was the inspector
in the cab, for it was a weary time be-
fore rejoined him. His face elouded
over when 4 showed him the empty
box.
There goes the reward, ]" said he,
there is no pay This nights work
would have been worth a tenner each
TO Sam Brown and me If the treasure
had been there. .
mir. Thaddeus Shofto is a rich man,
] said. "Hewili see that You are re-
yyarded, treasure or no. N II
The inspector shook his head de-
spondently, however. Its bad job"
he repeated, and so Mr.. Athelney
Jones will think.
His forecast proved to be correct,
for the detective looked blank enough
when / 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 80
far as to report themselves at station
upon the way. companion lounged
in his armchair with his usual list1ess.
expression, while Small sat stolidly op-
posite to him with his wooden leg
cooked over his sound one. AS asx-
.sshil9ited the empty box he Iesfied back.
in his chair and laughed aloud.
This is your doing, Small, said
Athelney Jones, angrily.
Yes, have put il away where you
shall never lay hand upon it, he cried,
exulbantIy. g It is my treasure; and if
| can't have the loot I'll take darned
good care that no one else does. ! tell
you that no living man has any right
to it, unless it's three men who are in
the. Andaman convict barracks and my
self. i know now that j cannot have
the use Of it,, aud | know that they
cannot. / have acted all llsthrougb for
them as much as fersnyself. IT'S been
the ign of four with us always. Well
I KIN v that they would have had me
do il what i have done, and gsthroW
the treasure into the Thames rather
than let 1t 90 to kith or kin of ShoIto
or of Morstan 1t 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 !
put the loot in a safe place. There are
no rupees for you this journey !"
ssYou are sdeceiving 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
shrewd, sideIong look. '.The man
that was clever enough to hunt me
down is clever enough to pick an iron
bog from the bottom of q river. Now
that they are scattered over five miles
or so, 1t may be a harder job. It went
to my heart to do it, though. | 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 split milk. .
eaThis 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
.sJustice!" snarled the ex-convict. "A
pretty Justice! Whose loot is this, It
it is not ours? Where is the justice
that | should give it up to those who
have never earned it? Look how have
earned It'll 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 1t
o,lt.of a white man. That was how
earned the Agra treasure. and you talk
Il, me Of Justice because cannot bear
to feel that i have paid this price only
that another may enjoy It'll would
rather swing score OF times,
or have one of Tonga's darts in
my hide, than live in a eonvict's cell
and feel that anOthernan is at has ease
III a palace with the money that should
be mine.s Small had dropped his mask
Of stoicism. and all this came out IN q
wild whirl of words, while his eyes
blnzea and the hand-cuffs clanked to-
pether with iIapassioned movement OF
his hands. | could understand, as |
saw the fury. and the passion Of the
man.3that it was no groundless or ull-
natural terror which had possessed
MaS Sholto when he first learned that
the injured convict was upon bis track.
You forget that we know nothing o.
all this" said Holmes, quietly we
hare not heard your story and we can
not tell how far justice may originally
i.save heen on your side.