Evening star., 1905-10-08
Copyright by Harper & Bros.l

When he was sober he used to be fond of
playing backgammon and draughts with
me, and he would make me his representa-
tive both with the servants and with the
tradespeople, so that by the time that
was sixteen / was quite master of the
house, / kept all the keys, and could go
where liked and do what liked, SO long
as l did not disturb him in his privacy.
There was one singular exception, however,
for he had single room-a lumber room
up among the atticS-which was Invariably
locked, and which he would never permit
either me or any one else to enter. With
a boys curiosity 1 have peeped through the
key hole, but | WAS never able to see more
than such collection of old trunks and
bundles as would be expected in such
room.
Zone day-it was in March. 1ss3-a letter
with foreign stamp lay upon the table
In front of the colonel's plate. 1t was not
a common thing for him to receive letters,
for his bills were all paid in ready money,
and he had no friends of any sort. From
1rdiai' said he, as he took II up, Pondl.
cherry postmarki What can this beY
Opening 1t hurriedly, out there jumped
five little dried orange pips which pat
tered down upon his plate. l began to
laugh at this. but the laugh was struck
from my lips at the sight of his face. His
LID had fallen, his eyes were protruding,
his skin the color of putty and he giared
at the envelope which he still held IN his
trembling hand. K. K K.r he shrieked,
and then, My God, my God, my sins have
overtalsen mer
a. What is 1t, uncle?' I cried
Death said he, and rising from the
table he retired to his room, leaving me
palpitating with horror. took up the
envelope, and saw scrawled in red ink upon
the inner flap, just above the gum, the let
ter X three times repeated. There was
nothing else save the five dried pips. What
could be the reason of his overpowerlng
terror? l left the breakfast table. and as
aseended the stair 1 met him coming down
with an old rusty key, which must have be-
forged to the attic, in one hand, and
small brass box, like a cash box, in the
other.
They may do what they like, but I'll
checkmate them STILL, said he, with an
oath Tell Mary that l shall want a fire
In my room today, and send down to Ford
ham, the Horsham lawyer
II did as he ordered, and when the law
yer arrived L was asked to step up to the
room. The fire was burning brightly, and
in the CRATE there was a mass of black,
fluffy ashes, as of burned paper, while the
brass box stood open and empty beside it.
AS 1 glanced at the box 1 noticed, with
a start that upon the Id were printed the
treble X which L had read in the morning
upon the envelope.
q I wish you, john, said my uncle, to
witness my will leave my estate, with all
its advantages and all its disadvantages, to
my brother, your father, whence 1t Will, no
doubt descend to you. If you can enjoy it
in peace, well and good! If you find you
cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave
IL
give you such two-edged thing, but l
can't say what turn things are going to
take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr..
Fordham shows you.
II signed the paper as directed, and the
lawyer took it away with him. The singu-
lar incident made. you may think, the
deepest impression upon me, and l pom
dered over it and turned 1t every way in
my mind without being able to make any
thing of it. Yet l could not shake off the
vague feeling of dread which it left behind,
though the sensation grew less keen as the
weeks passed and nothing happened to dis
turb the usual routine of our lives. / could
see change in my uncle, however. He
drank more than ever, and he was less In
clined for any sort of society. Most of his
time he would spend in his room with the
door locked upon the inside, but sometimes
he would emerge in sort of drunken
frenzy, and would burst out of the house
and tear about the garden with revolver in
his hand screaming out that he was afraid
of no man, and that he was not to be cooped
up, like sheep in a pen, by man or devil.
When these hot fits were over, however. he
would rush tumultuously in at the door and
lock and bar II behind him, Ike a man who
can brazen 1t out no longer against the ter
ror which lies at the roots of his soul At
such times have seen his face, even on
cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it
were new raised from basin.
We'll, to come to an end of the matter
Mr.. Holmes, and not to abuse your patience
there came a night when he made one of
those drunken sa1lies, from which he never
came back. We found him, when we went
to search for him, face downward in a little
green scummed pool, which lay at the foot
of the garden. There was no sign of any
violence, and the water was but two feet
deep, so that the jury, having regard to his
known eccentricity, brought in a verdict of
suicide. But I, who knew how he WINGED
from the very thought of death, had much
ado to persuade myself that he had gone out
of his way to meet It, The matter passed
however, and my father entered into pos
session of the estate and of some s14O0O
which lay to his credit at the bank"
one moment, fnterposed Holmes. Your
statement is, | foreSee one of the most re-
markable to which 1 have ever listened Let
me have the date of the reception by your
uncle of the letter and the date of his sup
posed suicide"
The letter arrived on March 10, 1888. His
death was seven weeks later, upon the night
of May %
Thank you. Pray proceed"
When my father took over the Hor-
sham property he at my request, made
careful examination of the attic which
mad been always locked up. We found
the brass box there, although It's contents
had been destroyed. On the inside of the
cover was a label, with the initials of
K. X. K. repeated upon 1t, and Letters.
memoranda, receipts and register writ
ten beneath. These, we presume indt-
Gated the nature of the papers which had
been destroyed by Col Openshaw For
the rest, there was nothing of much inn
portance in the attic, save great many
scattered papers and note books bearing
upon my uncle's life in America Some
OF them were of the war time and show
ed that he had done his duty we'll and
had borne the repute OF brave soldier
Others were of date during the recon-
struction of the southern states. and
were mostly concerned with politics, for
he had evidently taken a strong part in
opposing the carpet-bag politicians who
had been sent down from the north
We'll. 1t was the beginning of "a when
my father came to live at Horsham, and
all went as well possible with us until
the January of 'S5. On the fourth day
after the new year I heard my father
give sharp cry of surprise as we sat
together at the breakfast table. There he
was, sitting with a newly-opened enye-
lope in one hand and five dried orange
pips in the outstretched palm of the other
one. He had always laughed at what he
called my cock -and-a-bull story about the
colonel, but he looked very scared and
puzzled now that the same thing had
come upon himself.
What on earth does this mean, John ?''
he stammered.
My heart had turned to lead. Tt Is
K. X. X I said.
He looked inside the envelope. so it
Is he cried. Here are the very letters
But what is written above them?"