Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-15

WOOUen lekEcu man, MDo pIONeu IO De harmless tradesman canvassing for orders. We had to pay n large sum to hush the matter up. My brother and used to think this a msre whim of my fathers, but events have since led us to change our opinion.
 Early in 1889 my father received let- ter from India which was n great shock to him. He nearly tainted at the breakfast table when he opened 1t, and from that day he sickened to his death. What was in the letter we could never discover, but could see as he held it that it was short and written in Q scrawling hand. He had suffered for years from an enlarged spleen. but he now became rapidly worse, and toward the end of April we were in- formed that he was beyond all hope, and that he wished t0 make n last communica- tion to us,
 When we entered the room, he was propped up with pillows and breathing heavily. He besought us to lock tho door and to come up on either side of the bed. Then, grasping our hands, he made n re- markablo statement to us in O voice which was broken us much by emotion as by pain. shall try to give it to you in his own very words.
 II have only one thing, he said, which weighs upon my mind at this srl- preme moment It Is my treatment of poor Morstan's orphan. Tho cursed greed which has been my besetting sin through life had withheld from her the treasure, half at least of which should have been hers. And yet have made no use of 1t myself, so blind and foolish a thing Is avarice. The mere feeling of possession has been 50 dear to me that l could not bear to share it with another. See that chaplet tipped with pearls beside the Qui- nine bottle Even that could not bear to part with, although had got it 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 nothing, not even the chaplet, until am gone After all, men have been as bad as this and have re- covered
 II will tell you how Morstan died, he continued. He had suffered for years from a weak heart, but he concealed 1t from every one alone knew it. When in India, he and l, through a remarkable chain of circumstances, came into posses sion of a considerable treasure. l brought it over to England, and on the night of Morstan's arrival he came straight over hero to claim his >i.,, U.,, ,.l over from the station and N l~ LN:.itted by my faithful old Lal Chow ,,.r, who is now dead. Morstan nud l 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 paroxysm of anger, when ho suddenly pressed his hand to his side his face turned a dusky hue and he fell backward, cutting his head against the corner of the treasure chest. When l stoopcl over him, found, to my horror, that he was dead.
 I hoIP s3{ wondering what 1 should do. My first impulse was, of course 10 call for assist ancc, but 1 could not but recoeniZe that there was every chance that would be accused of hiS murder. His death at the moment of n quarrel and the gash in his head would be black against me Again an official inquiry could not he made with out bringing out som facts about the treasure, which was particularly anxious to keep secret. He had told me that no soul upon earth know where hc had gone. There seemed to be no necessity why any soul ever should know.
 ' I was still pundCring over tho mat ter when, looking up, saw my servant, Lal ChOwdar, in the doorway, He stole in and bultcd 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 wiserE I did not kill him, said l. Lal Chowdar shook his head and smiled. I heard 1t all, sahib, said he. I heard you quarrel, and heard the blow. But my lips aru sealed. All arc asleep in the house. Let us put him away together That was enough to decide me If my own servant could not believe my innocence, how could 1 hope to make it good before 12 foolish trades men in jury boxt
 T al Cb1r,In- I of tha body that night, and within a few days the London papers were full of the mysterious disappearance of Captain Morstan. You will see from what say that ] can hardly | be blamed in the matter. My fault lies in the fact that we concealed not only tho body, hut also tho treasure, and that l have cluns to Morstan's share as well as to my own. l wish you, therefore, to | make rcstitution.- Put your ears down to my mouth. The treasure is hidden in At this instant a horrible change came | over his expression. His eyes stared | wildly, his jaw dropped, and he yelled in a voice which can never forget: Keep 1 him out For Christ's sake, keep him outH We both stared round at the window be- hind us upon which his gaze was fixed. 4 | facc was looking in at us out of the dark | ness We could sec the whitening of the nose whCro it was pressed against the | glass. It was bearded, hairy faoc, with l wild, cruel eyes and an expression of con centrated maievolcnce, My brother and l rushed toward the window, but the man was gone. When we returned to my fla ther his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat.
 We searched tho garden that night, | but found no sign of the intruder. save l that just under tho window a single foot
 mark was visible in the flower bed. But | for that one trace we might have thought | that our imaginations had conjured up | that wild, fierce face. We soon, however, l had another and a moro striking proof | that thero wero secret agencies at work all l round us. Tho window of my father s l room was found open in the morning, his oupboards and boxes had been ri1ed, and | upon his chest was fixed n torn piece of paper with tho words, Tho sign of the | four scrawled across it. What the phrase | meant or who our secret visitor may have ] been we mover know. AS far as we can
 judge, none of my fathers property had
 been actually stolen, though everything | had been turned out My brother and l
 naturally associated this peculiar incident
 with the fear which haunted my father
 during his life. but 1t Is still 8 complete
 mystery to us
 Tho little man stopped to relight his
 hookah and puffed thoughtfully for few
 moments. We had all sat absorbed. listen
 ing to his extraordinary narrative. At
 the short account of her fathers death
 Miss Morstan had turned deadly white,
 and for q moment I feared that she was
 about to faint. She rallied, however, on
 drinking a glass of water which quietly
 poured out for her from a Venetian caraft
 upon the side table. Sherlock Holme.
 leaned back in his chair with an abstract
 ed expression and the lids drawn low ovel
 his glittering eyes. As glanced at aim
 could not but think how on that very day
 he had complained bitterly of the common