St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1895-08-03
CHAPTER Iv.-coNrrNuEp.

Will tell you now MOrStan Q1ed,'
he continued. He had suffered for
years from a weak heart, but he con-
cealed it from everyone. alone knew
it. When in India. he and I, through
remarkable chain of circumstances,
came into possession of considerable
treasure. / brought it over to Eng
land, and on the night of Morstan's ar
rival 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 had 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 he sudden
ly pressed his hand to his side, his face
turned dusly hue, and he fell back
wards, cutting his head against the
corner Of the treasure-chest. When
stopped over him I found, to my horror,
that he was dead.
= For a long time sat half dis
tracted, vvuIItlrr iI1s ---l>a+ I should do
nv first impulse was, of course, to
call for assistance; but could not but
recognize that there was every chance
that / would be accused of his murder.
His death at the moment of quarrel,
and the cash in his head, would be
black against me. Again, an official
inquiry could not be made without
bringing out some facts about the
treasure, which / was particularly
anxious to keep secret. He had told
meftthat no soul upon earth knew
whg u he had gone. There seemed to
be no necessity why any soul ever
should knew
"'I was still pondering over the mat
ter, when, looking up, / saw my serv-
ant, Lal Chowdar, in the doorway.
He stole in, and bolted the door behind
him. sDo not fear, sahib," he said.
s'No one need know that you have.
killed him Let us hide him away,
and who is the wiser?" 81 did not
kill him. said I. Lal Chowdar shook
his head, and smiled. "I heard it all,
sahib,' said he. 81 heard you quarrel,
and / heard the blow. But my lips
are sealed. All are asleepin the house.
Let us put him away together" That
was enough to decide me II my own
servant could not believe my inno-
cence, how could hope to make 1t
good before twelve foolish tradesmen In
q Jury box? Lal Chowdar and dis
posed Of the body that night, and
within a few days the London papers
were full Of the mysterious disappear
ance of Capt. 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 the body, but also the
treasure, and that i have clung
to Morstan's share as well as to
my own. I wish you, therefore, to
make restitution. Put your ears down
to my mouth. The treasure is hidden
in, At this instant horrible change
came over his expression; his eyes
stared wildly, his jaw dropped, and he
yelled In q voice / can never forget:
Keep him outl For Christ's sake keep
him outr We both stared round at the
window behind us upon which his gaze
was fixed. A face was looking in at us
nut of the darkness. We could see the
whitening of the nose where it was
pressed against the glass. It was
bearded, hairy face, with wild, cruel
ewes and an expression of concentrated
malevolence. Ny brother and rushed
towards the window, but the man was
zone. When we returned to my father
Ills head had dropped and his pulse had
ceased 10 beat
.sWe searched the garden that night,
but found no sign OF the intruder, save
that Just under the window single
footmark was visible in the hower-bed.
But for that one trace, we might have
thought that our irnaginations had con,
iured up that wild, farce face. We
soon, however, had another and more
striking proof that there were secret
agencies at work all around us. The
window of my fathers room was found
open in the morning, his cupboards and
boxes had been rihed, and upon his
chest was fixed q torn piece OF paper
with the words The sign of the four
scrawled across it. What the phrase
meant, or who our secret visitor may
have been, we never knew. AS far q.
we can Judge, none of my fathers
property had been actually stolen
though everything had been turned
out My brother and naturally asso
ciated this peculiar incident with thu