The Press., 1895-05-02

join in our speculations as to what could have happened. Never for an instant did we suspect that he had the whole secret hidden in his own breast; that of all men he alone knew the fate of Arthur Morstan We did know, however, that some mystery, some positive danger, overhung our father He was very fearful of going out alone, and he always employed two prizef1ghters to act as porterS at Pondi- cherry Lodge. Williams, who drove you tonight, was one of them. He was once lightweight champion of England. Our father would never tell us what it was he feared, but he had most marked aver sion to men with wooden legs On one occasion he actually fired his revolver at a wooden legged man, who proved to be d harmless tralesman Canvassing for orders We had to pay large sum to hush tho matter up. My brother and 1 used to think this a mere whim of my fathers, but events have since led us to change our opinion.
 Early in 1882 my father received a let ter from India which was great shock to him. He nearly tainted at the breakfast table when he opened it, and from that day he sickencd to his death. What was in the letter we could never discover, but I could see as he held it that it was short and written in a 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 to make last communica- tion to us
 When we entered the room, he was propped up with pillows and breathing heavily. He besought us to lock the door and to come up on either side of the bed Then, grasping our hands, he made re- markable statement to us in a voice which was broken as much by emotion as by pain. 1 shall try to give it to you in his own very words.
 '''I have only one thing, he said, which weighs upon my mind at this su- preme moment It ia my treatment of poor Morstan's orphan. The 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 I have made no use of it myself so blind and foolish a thing is avarice The mere feeling of possession has been su dear to me that 1 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 fair share of the Agra treasure, But send her nothing, not even the chaplet, until l am gone After all men have been as bad as this and have re- covered
 I will tell you how Morstan died, he continued. He had suffered for years from a weak heart but he concealed it from every one. I alone knew it. When in India, he and l, through a remarkable chain of circumstanc ces, came into posses sion of considerable treasure. brought it over to England and on the night of Morstan's arrival he came straight over here to claim his share. He walked over from the station and was admitted by my faithful old Lal ChoWdar, who is now dead. Morstan and l had difference of opinion as to the diyi,;i0n of the treasure, and we came to I;raFrd words. Morstan had sprung out of lis hai! ill paroxysm of anger, when h" suddenly pressed his hand to his side his face turned dusky hue, and he fell bacEwar,l cutting his head against the corner of the treasure chest. When I stOOprd over him, I found, to my horror, that he was dead.
 :" For long time l sat half distracted, wondering what I should do. My first impulse was, of course. to call for assist ance, but l could not Lut recognize that there was every chance that I would be accused of his murder. His death at the moment of R quarrel and the gash in his head would he black against mo- Again an off inquiry could not be made with out bringing out some facts about the treasure which 1 was particularly anxious to keep secret. He had told me that no soul upon earth knew where he had gone. There seemed to be no necessity why any soul ever should know.
 II was still pondcring over the mat ter when, looking up, I saw my servant, Lal Chowdar, in the doorway. He stole in and bolted 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 wiser?' I did not kill him. said l. Lal Chowdar shook his head and smiled. I heard it all, sahib, said he. I heard you quarrel, and heard the blow. But my lips are sealed. All are asleep in tho house. Let us put him away together That was enough to decide me. If my own servant could not believe my innocence, how could I hope to make it good before 12 foolish trades men in jury box?
 Lal Chowdar and 1 disposed of the body that night, and within few days the London papers were full of the mysterious disappearance of Captain Morstan. You will see from what I say that 1 can hardly be blamed in the matter My fault lies in the fact that we concealed not only the body but also tho treasure, and that l have chung to Morstan's share as well as to my own. l wish you, therefore, to make restitution. Put your ears down to my mouth. The treasure is hidden in At this instant a horrible change came over his expression. His cyCs stared wildly, his jaw dropped, and he yelled in voice which I can never forget: Keep him out. For Christ's sake, keep him out! We both stared round at the window be- hind us upon which his gaze was fixed. A faco was looking in at us out of the dark ness We could see the whitening of the nose where it was pressed against the glass. 1t was bearded, hairy face, with wild, cruel eyes and an expression of con- centrated malevolenco. My brother and rushed toward the window, but the man was gone. When VIC returned to my fla ther, his head had dropped and his pulse had ceased to beat
 We searched the garden that night, but found no sign of the intruder, save that just under the window d single foot mark was visible in the flower bed. But for that one trace we might have thought that our imaginatiuns had coU injured up that wild, fierce face. We soon, however,