St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1895-10-05

he. u should like to know how many
fellows in my shoes would have re-
fused 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 have come to light, and
Il should have been court-martialed
and shot as likely as not; for people
Were not very lenient at time like
that.
go on with your story, said Holmes,
shortly.
swell, we carried him In, Abdullah,
Albar and /. A fine weight he was,
too, for al TINT he was so short. Ma
homet Singh was left to guard the
door. We took him to a place which
the Silshs had already prepared. ftwas
some distance off, where a winding pas
sage leads to a great empty hall, tile
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 Acllmet the merchant there,
having first covered hlm over with
back to the treasure.
ssIt 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 cleaned upon eollee-
Il n Snf.
thought.about when was a little lad
at Pershore. It was binding 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, believe, the Great Mogul,'
and is said to be the second largest
stone In existence. Then there were
ninety-sepen. very fine emeraldss and
one hundred and seventy rubies, some
of which, however, were small: There
were forty carbune1es, two hundred
and ten sapphires, sixty-one agates and
d great quantity of beryls, onyxes, CATS
eyes, turauoises and other stones, the
very names of which did not know at
the time, though ! 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 wheE I re-
covered 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
1solemnIy 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 1T
equally among ourselves. There was
no use dividing 1t 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,cou1d 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
/ drew four plans, one for each OF u.s.
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 Is
an oath that1 can put my hand to my
heart and swear that have never
broken.
well, there's no use my telling You,
| gentlemen, what. came of the Indian
inutiny. After Wilson took Delhi and
Sir Colvin relieved Lucknow the back
Of the business was broken. Fresh
troops came pouring In, and Mana
Sahib made himself scarce over the
frontier. A flying column under Col.
Greathead 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 plumber. In moment,
| however, our hopes were shattered by
our being arrested as the murderers of
| Achmet. s. -
ut 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 raiah do but take sec
| ond even more trusty servant and set
him to play the spy upon the frstP
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 AcIamet. This seemed
| to him so strange that he spoke
about it to 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 though 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 beensin company of the
murdered man. Not q word about the
Jewels came out. the trial, for the
rajah had been deposed and driven out
of India: so no one had any particular
| interest in them The murder how
ever, was clearly made out, and 1t was
certain that we must all have been
Il EIcaneeruat9 ia IL The three Sikhs cot