Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1895-07-25

| was the fat man, running like the wind,
with smear of blood across his face,
and close at his heels, bounding like a
tiger, the great black-bearded Sikh.
with 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 could see that If he
| once passed me and got to the open air
| he would save himself yet Ny heart
softened to him, but again the thought
of his treasure turned me hard and
bitter l 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 with the fall.
You see, gentlemen, that L am keeping
my promise. 1 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 hands for the whisky and water
which Holmes had brewed for him.
For myself, confess that I had now
conceived the utmost horror of the
man, not only for this cold-blooded
business in which he had been con-
cerned. but even more for the some
what fippant and careless way in
which he narrated ii. Whatever pun
ishment was in store for him. felt
that he might expect no sympathy from
me. 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 have observed it, for
there was touch of defiance in his
voice and manner as he proceeded.
1T was all very bad, no doubt said
| he. 81 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
Threats cut for their pains. Besides, it
| was my life or his when once he was III
| the fort. If he had got out, the whole
! business would have come to light, and
1 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.
'Wel1. we carried him in, Abdullah,
Akbar and 1. 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 place which
the Silzhs had already prepared. It was
some distance off, where winding pas
sage leads to a great empty hall, the
brick walls of which were all crum bling
to pieces. The earth floor had sunk in
at one place. making a natural grave,
1af& AL, !,
having first covered HIM over with
loose bricks. This done, we all went
back to the treasure.
1T 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
sillzen 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 I was a little lad
at Pershore. 1t was binding to look
upon them. When we had feasted our
| eyes we took them all out and made
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-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
a 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
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 wher. 1 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
solemn1y renewed our oath to stand by
each other and be true to our secret.
| We agreed to conceal our loot in Il
! 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. VIC made Il