Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-08-29

l
begging me to cons up as soon as it be.
came cooler. tlo said he had /, commits
sion which he was anxious should dc
for him in England
| or course went. 1t was not very
convenient, because had to borrow one
OF our fellows traps, MS / had sold my
own, and mono of them had the conf
dence in my driving which 1 had myself.
was also obliged to leave the packing
of my collection of Malay krises and In
dian kookeries to my bearer.
wondered, as | drove along, why Sir
John had sent for me. Worse, was hef
Dying, and without a friendp Poor old
mani He had done pretty well in this
world, but was afraid he would not be
up to much once he was out of 1t; and
now, it seemed, he was going. felt
sorry for him. felt more sorry when
saw hi1n-when the tall, long faced A.
D. 9. took me into his room and left us.
Yes, Sir John was certainly going.
There was no mistake about it. It was
written In every limo Of his drawn, fever
worn face, and In his wide, fever lit
eyes, and in tho clutch of his long, yell
low hands upon his tussore silk dressing
gown. he looked very sick, bad old
man as he lay there on his low couch,
placed SO Us to court the air from without,
cooled by its passage through damped
grass screens, and to receive the full
strength of the punkah, pulled by an in
visible hand outside.
You go to England tomorrow he
asked, sharply.
1t was written even In the change Of
his voice, which was harsh, as Of old,
but with all the strength gone out Of it.
"By to-morrow's mail" l said.
should have liked to say something more
something sympathetic about his be-
ing i'll and not likely to get better, but
he had always treated me discourteously
when he was well, and could not open
ont all at once now that he was ill.
Look here, Middleton" he went on ;
81 am dying, and know it. don't
suppose You imagined had sent for you
to bid you q last farewell before depart
ing to my long home. am not in such
a hurry to depart MS all that, can tell
you; but there is something want done
that want you to do for me. Imeant
to have done it myself. but am down
now and | must trust somebody. |
know better than to trust u clever man.
An honest fool-but am depressing
from the case in point. l have never
trusted anybody all my life, SO you may
feel honored. i have small parcel
which want you to take to England for
me. Here it Is"
His long, lean hands, went searching
in his dressing gown, and presently
produced an old brown bag, held to-
gether at the neck by astring.
"See here" he said; and he pushed the
glasses and papers aside from the table
near him and undid the string. Then he
craned forward to look about him, lay
ing spasmodic clutch on the bag. "pm
watchedl know I'm watched" he
said in u whisper, his pale eyes turning
slowly in their sockets. II shall be
killed for them If / keep them much
longer, and won't be hurried into my
grave. FL take my own time.s
"There is no one here" Isaid. "and no
one in sight except Cathcart smoking In
the yeranda, and can only sec his legs,
80 he can't see u.s.
he seemed to recover himself, and
laughed. had never liked his laugh,
especially when, as had often happened,
1t had been directed against myself; but
liked 1t still less now.
"See herel" he repeated, chuckling;
and he turned the bag inside out upon
the table.
Such jewels had never seen. They
fell like cut flame upon the marble table,
green and red and burning white. A
large diamond rolled and fell upon the
floor. picked it up and put it back
among the confused blaze of precious
stones, too much astonished for mo-
ment to speak.
Beautiful! aren't they?" the old man
chuckled, passing his wasted hands over
them. you won't match that necklace
in any jewelers. in England. / tore it
off an old she devil of Rhanee's neck
after the mutiny, and got u bite In the
ann for my trouble. But she'll tell no
tales. He. he! hel / don't mind say
ing now how l got them. am hum
BILE Christian now am SO near heaven
eh, Middleton? Hell he! You don't like
to contradict me. Look at those emer-
aids. The hasp is broken, but it makes
pretty bracelet. don't think I'll tell
how the hasp got broken little accident
as the lady who wore it gave 1t to me.
Rather brown, isn't 1t, on one side? But
it will come of. No, you need not be
afraid Of touching 1t, 1t isn't wet. Hell
he! And this crescent. Look at those
afMnondsl a duchess would be proud
Of them. Ihad them from private sol
der. / gave him two rupees for them.
Dear mel how the sight Of them brings
back old times But I won't leave them
out any longer. We must put them
away-put them away"
And the glittering mass was gathered
up and shoveled back into the old brown
bag. Helooked intoi IT once with hungry
eyes, and then he pulled the string and
pushed 1t over tom me. "Take it, he said.
"Put 1t away now. Put II away he
repeated, as l hesltated-
put the bag into my pocket. He gave
a long sigh as he watched it disappear.
Nov what you have got TO do with
that bag" he said moment afterward,
"is to take 1t to Ralph Danvers, the SEQ
ond son Of Sir George Danvers, Of Stoke
Moreton, In D--shire. Sir George has
| got two sons. have never seen him OF
his sons, but don't mean the eldest te
have them. He is spendthrift. They
are all for Ralph, who is a steady fell
low, and going to marry nice girl-a'
least I suppose she Is Il nice girl. Girls
who are going to be married always are
nice. Those jewels will sweeten matri
mony for Mrs. Ralph, and If she Is like