Morris tribune., 1895-07-10

the same disgust written upon theil
faces. He may have observed it, fol
there was a touch of defiance in hi
voice and manner as he proceeded.
/ 1T was all very bad, no doubt" sai(
he. IT Should like to know how mary
fellows in my shoes would have re
fused share of this loot when they
knew that they would have theil
throats cut for their pains. Besides, il
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
/ 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 l. A fine weight he was,
too, for all that he was so short. Ma
homet Singh was left to guard the
/ door. We took him to a place which
| the Sikhs had already prepared, TWAS
some distance off, where winding pas
sage leads to great empty hall, the
brick walls of which were all crumbling
| to pieces. The earth floor had sunk in
at one place, making 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 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
silzen cord to that carved handle upon
the top. We opened it, and the light
of the lantern cleaned upon collec-
ton of gems such as have read of and
thought about when was q little lad
at Pershore. 1t was binding to look
upon them. When we had Toasted 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 second 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 agates and
great quantity of beryls, onyxes, cats
eyes, turquoises and other stones, the
very names of which did not know at
the time, though I have become more
familiar with them since. Besides
this, there were nearly three hundred
Co. al ~ hSoh
set in gold coronet. By the way,
these last had been taken out of the
chest and were not there wher 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
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
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 is
an oath that can put my hand to my
heart and swear that I 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 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'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 trusty man. They are
folk in the east, however; so
what does this rajah do but take 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. This seemed
to him so strange that he spoke
lbout it to sergeant of guides,
who brought it to the ears of
the commandant. A thorough search