by G. A. Henty
Produced by Martin Robb
COLONEL THORNDYKE'S SECRET
By G. A. Henty.
PUBLISHER'S INTRODUCTION.
"Colonel Thorndyke's Secret" is a story so far out of the ordinary thatit will not be inappropriate to speak a few words regarding the tale andits unusually successful author, Mr. George Alfred Henty.
The plot of the story hinges upon the possession of a valuable bracelet,of diamonds, stolen from a Hindoo idol by a British soldier in India.This bracelet falls into the possession of Colonel Thorndyke, who,shortly afterward, is sent home to England because of his wounds. Thesecret concerning the bracelet is told to the Colonel's brother, acountry squire, and the treasure is left to younger members of theThorndyke family.
As is well known today, the theft of anything from a Hindoo temple isconsidered an extraordinary crime in India, and when this occurs itbecomes a religious duty for one or more persons to hunt down the thiefand bring back the property taken from the heathen god.
The members of the Thorndyke family soon learn that they are beingwatched. But this is at a time when highwaymen are numerous in this partof England, and they cannot determine whether the work is that of the"knights of the roads" or that of the Lascars after the famous bracelet.A mysterious death follows, and the younger members of the family arealmost stunned, not knowing what will happen next. They would give thebracelet up, but do not know where it is hidden, the secret having beenin the sole possession of the member now dead. In this quandary theyoung hero of the tale rises to the occasion and determines to join theLondon police force and become a detective, with the hope of ultimatelyclearing up the mystery. Thrilling adventures of a most unusual kindfollow, and at last something of the mystery is explained. The braceletand other jewelry are unearthed, and it is decided to take the braceletto Amsterdam and offer it to the diamond cutters at that place. Butthe carrying of the bracelet is both difficult and dangerous. How themission is brought to a conclusion, and what part the Lascars played inthe final adventure, will be found in the pages that follow.
It can truthfully be said that Mr. Henty is easily the most popular ofall English story tellers, his books for boys enjoying a circulation offrom a hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand peryear. His tales are all clean, and although some are full of excitingsituations and thrilling to the last degree, they are of a high moraltone, while the English employed is of the best.
The present story is of peculiar value as giving a good insight intocountry and town life in England over a hundred years ago, when railwaysand telegraph lines were unknown and when the "knights of the road" wereapt to hold up any stagecoach that happened to come along. It also givesa truthful picture of the dark and underhanded work accomplished attimes by those of East Indian blood, especially when on what theyconsider a religious mission.
CHAPTER I.
Squire Thorndyke, of the Manor House of Crawley, was, on the 1st ofSeptember; 1782, walking up and down the little terrace in front of thequaint old house in an unusually disturbed mood. He was a man of fortythree or four, stoutly and strongly built, and inclined to be portly.Save the loss of his wife four years before, there had been but littleto ruffle the easy tenor of his life. A younger son, he had, at hismother's death, when he was three and twenty, come in for the smallestate at Crawley, which had been her jointure.
For ten years he had led a life resembling that of most of hisneighbors; he had hunted and shot, been a regular attendant at anymain of cocks that was fought within fifteen miles of Crawley, hadoccasionally been up to London for a week or two to see the gay doingsthere. Of an evening he had generally gone down to the inn, where hetalked over, with two or three of his own condition and a few of thebetter class of farmers, the news of the day, the war with the French,the troubles in Scotland, the alarming march of the Young Pretender, andhis defeat at Culloden--with no very keen interest in the result, forthe Southern gentry and yeomen, unlike those in the North, had no strongleanings either way. They had a dull dislike for Hanoverian George, butno great love for the exiled Stuarts, whose patron, the King of France,was an enemy of England.
More often, however, their thoughts turned upon local topics--theholding up of the coach of Sir James Harris or Squire Hamilton byhighwaymen; the affray between the French smugglers and the Revenue mennear Selsea Bill or Shoreham; the delinquencies of the poaching gangs;the heaviness of the taxes, and the price of corn.
At the age of thirty-three Squire Thorndyke married the daughter ofa neighboring landowner; a son was born and three years later Mrs.Thorndyke died. Since then the Squire had led a more retired life; hestill went down to smoke his pipe at the inn parlor, but he gave up hisvisits to town; and cock fights, and even bull baiting, were no longerattractions to him. He was known as a good landlord to the three or fourfarmers who held land under him; was respected and liked in the village,where he was always ready to assist in cases of real distress; was of aneasygoing disposition and on good terms with all his neighbors.
But today he was unusually disturbed in his mind. A messenger had riddenup two hours before with a letter from London. It was as follows:
"MY DEAR BROTHER JOHN:
"You will be surprised indeed at this letter from me, who, doubtless,you suppose to be fighting in India. I have done with fighting, andam nearly done with life. I was shot in the battle of Buxar, eighteenmonths ago. For a time the surgeons thought that it was going to befatal; then I rallied, and for some months it seemed that, in spite ofthe ball that they were never able to find, I was going to get over it,and should be fit for service again. Then I got worse; first it wasa cough, then the blood used to come up, and they said that the onlychance for me was to come home. I did not believe it would be of anyuse, but I thought that I would rather die at home than in India, sohome I came, and have now been a week in London.
"I thought at first of going down to my place at Reigate, and havingyou and your boy there with me; but as I have certainly not many weeks,perhaps not many days, to live, I thought I would come down to you; sothe day after you receive this letter I shall be with you. I shall notbring my little girl down; I have left her in good hands, and I shallonly bring with me my Hindoo servant. He will give you no trouble--a matto sleep on, and a little rice to eat, will satisfy his wants; and hewill take the trouble of me a good deal off your hands. He was a Sepoyin my regiment, and has always evinced the greatest devotion for me.More than once in battle he has saved my life, and has, for the lastthree years, been my servant, and has nursed me since I have been illas tenderly as a woman could have done. As I shall have time to tell youeverything when I arrive, I will say no more now."
The news had much affected John Thorndyke. His brother George was fiveyears his senior, and had gone out as a cadet in the company's servicewhen John was but thirteen, and this was his first home coming. Had itnot been for a portrait that had been taken of him in his uniform justbefore he sailed, John would have had but little remembrance of him. Inthat he was represented as a thin, spare youth, with an expression ofquiet determination in his face. From his father John had, of course,heard much about him.
"Nothing would satisfy him but to go out to India, John. There was, ofcourse, no occasion for it, as he would have this place after me--afine estate and a good position: what could he want more? But he was acurious fellow. Once he formed an opinion there was no persuading him tochange it. He was always getting ideas such as no one else would thinkof; he did not care for anything that other people cared for; neverhunted nor shot. He used to puzzle me altogether with his ways, and,'pon my word, I was not sorry when he said he would go to India, forthere was no saying how he might have turned out if he had stopped here.He never could do anything like anybody else:
nothing that he could havedone would have surprised me.
"If he had told me that he intended to be a play actor, or a Jockey, ora private, or a book writer, I should not have been surprised. Upon myword, it was rather a relief to me when he said, 'I have made up my mindto go into the East India Service, father. I suppose you can get mea cadetship?' At least that was an honorable profession; and I knew,anyhow, that when he once said 'I have made up my mind, father,' noarguments would move him, and that if I did not get him a cadetship hewas perfectly capable of running away, going up to London, and enlistingin one of their white regiments."
John Thorndyke's own remembrances were that his brother had alwaysbeen good natured to him, that he had often told him long stories aboutIndian adventures, and that a short time before he went away, havingheard that he had been unmercifully beaten by the schoolmaster atReigate for some trifling fault, he had gone down to the town, and hadso battered the man that the school had to be closed for a fortnight.They had always kept up a correspondence. When he received the news ofhis father's death George had written to him, begging him to go down toReigate, and to manage the estate for him.
"Of course," he said, "you will draw its income as long as you arethere. I mayn't be back for another twenty years; one gets rich out herefast, what with plunder and presents and one thing and another, and itis no use to have money accumulating at home, so just live on the placeas if it were your own, until I come home to turn you out."
John had declined the offer.
"I am very well where I am," he wrote, "and the care of the estate wouldbe a horrible worry to me; besides, I have just married, and if I everhave any children they would be brought up beyond their station. Ihave done what I can for you. I have seen the family lawyers, who haveengaged a man who has been steward to Sir John Hieover, and looked afterthe estate during his son's minority. But the young blade, on coming ofage, set to work to make ducks and drakes of the property, and Newmancould not bear to see the estate going to the Jews, so, as luck wouldhave it, he resigned a month ago, and has been appointed steward atReigate. Of course, if you don't like the arrangement you must write andsay so. It will be a year before I get your answer, and he has only beenengaged for certain for that time; it must lie with you as to permanentarrangement."
So Newman had taken charge of the Reigate estate, and had continuedto manage it ever since, although George had written home in greatdispleasure at his offer being refused.
Inside the Manor the bustle of preparations was going on; the spareroom, which had not been used for many years, was being turned out, anda great fire lighted to air it. John Thorndyke had sent a letter by thereturning messenger to a friend in town, begging him to go at once toLeadenhall Street and send down a supply of Indian condiments for hisbrother's use, and had then betaken himself to the garden to think thematter over. The next day a post chaise arrived, bringing the invalidand his colored servant, whose complexion and Indian garb struck themaids with an awe not unmingled with alarm. John Thorndyke could hardlybelieve that the bent and emaciated figure was that of his brother, buthe remembered the voice when the latter said, holding out his hand tohim:
"Well, brother John, here I am, what is left of me. Gracious, man,who would have thought that you were going to grow up such a fine tallfellow? You are more fitted to be a soldier than I am. No, don't tryto help me out; Ramoo will do that--he is accustomed to my ways, and Iwould as soon trust myself to a rogue elephant as to you."
"I am sorry to see you looking so bad, brother George."
"What must be must. I have had my fling; and after thirty years ofmarching and fighting, I have no right to grumble if I am laid upon myback at last."
Leaning on Ramoo's arm, Colonel Thorndyke made his way into the house,and when the Hindoo had arranged the cushions of the sofa, took hisplace there in a half reclining position.
"I am not always as bad as this, John," he said; "the jolting of yourconfounded roads has been too much for me. If I were the King I wouldhang every fellow who had anything to do with them--contractors, boardsof county magistrates, and the whole lot. If I had known what it wasgoing to be like I would have hired a sedan chair, and had myselfcarried down. That is what I have been doing in London; but I wouldrather have had an Indian palkee, that one could have lain downcomfortably in."
"What shall I get you first, George? I have got some lemons."
"I want something better than lemons, John. Have you any Burgundyhandy?"
"Yes, plenty."
"If you give a bottle to Ramoo he will know how much water I want."
Here the servants entered with a tray with a chicken and a dish ofkidneys.
"I sent up yesterday for some of the Indian things that you areaccustomed to, George, but they have not come down yet."
"I brought a store down with me. This will do capitally for the present.Ramoo will do the cooking for me in future. He need not go into thekitchen to scare the maids. I could see they looked at him as if he hadbeen his infernal majesty, as he came in. He can do it anywhere; all hewants is an iron pot with some holes in it, and some charcoal. He cansquat out there on the veranda, or, if it is bad weather, any shed willdo for him.
"Well, it is nice to be home again, John," he went on, after he hadeaten a few mouthfuls of chicken and drunk a tumbler of Burgundy andwater. "I am glad to be back, now I am here, though I dare say I shouldnot have come home for another ten years if it had not been for thisrascally bullet. Where is your boy?"
"He is away at school."
"Well, I think I will go up to bed at once, if you don't mind, John. Ishall be fitter to talk in the morning."
The next day, indeed, Colonel Thorndyke was materially better. His voicewas stronger and more cheery, and when he came down after breakfast hetook his seat in an easy chair instead of on the sofa.
"Now, brother," he said, "we will have a cozy chat. There are severalthings I want done, but the chief of these is that when I am gone youshould go down to Reigate, as I wanted you to do ten years ago. I wantyou to seem to be its master, as well as be its master, until Millicentcomes of age, if not longer. Her name is Millicent Conyers Thorndyke. Iwish her to be called Millicent Conyers, and to appear as your ward, andnot as your niece and heiress of the property. If there is one thing inthe world I have a greater horror of than another, it is of a girl beingmarried for her money. I don't suppose that anyone knows that I have adaughter--at any rate, none beyond a few Indian chums. She was sent homewith an ayah under the charge of the widow of a comrade of mine. I hadbeen away for months, and only went back to Calcutta in time to see hermother die. So that is all right."
"I could not do such a thing as that, George. I should be living underfalse colors. It is not that I mind so much leaving here and lookingafter the child's interest at Reigate, but I could not possibly takepossession of the place as its owner when I should not be so. Besides,there are other objections. Mark would grow up supposing himself to bethe heir."
"Mark will be all right. I have, since I have been in London, signed awill, leaving the rest of my fortune between them. I had it drawn up byour father's solicitors, relying upon your consent to do what I askedyou. I have explained the matter to them, and given them the assignment,or whatever they call it, of the Reigate estate to you, until mydaughter comes of age, appointing them her guardians should you diebefore that. Thus, you will be placed in a proper position; and shouldit be known by any means that the child is my daughter, that deed willstill be a proof that you are carrying out my wishes, and are absolutemaster of the estate until she comes of age."
"I must think it all over, George. It is a singular proposal, and I ownI would rather things went on in their regular course."
"Yes, yes, I understand that, John; but you see I have altogether setmy mind on this matter. I want to know that my girl is not going to bemarried for her money; and, at any rate, that deed makes you master ofthe Reigate estates for the next thirteen years; so the only thing thatI really want of you is to let the girl be calle
d your ward instead ofyour niece, and that she and everyone else shall be in ignorance thatshe is an heiress. So far from doing the girl a wrong, you will be doingher a benefit; and as I have explained the whole matter to our lawyers,no one can possibly think that the thing has been done from any motivewhatever except that of affording me satisfaction."
"I will think the matter over," John repeated. "Of course, brother, ithas been in your mind for some time, but it comes altogether fresh tome, and I must look at it in every light. For myself, I have no wish atall to become master of our father's estate. I have been going in onegroove for the last twenty years, and don't care about changing it. Youwished me to do so ten years ago, and I declined then, and the ten yearshave not made me more desirous of change than I was before."
"All right; think it over. Please send Ramoo in to me; I have tiredmyself in talking."
John Thorndyke smoked many churchwarden pipes in the little arbor in hisgarden that day. In the afternoon his brother was so weak and tired thatthe subject of the conversation was not reverted to. At eight o'clockthe Colonel went off to bed. The next morning, after breakfast, he wasbrighter again.
"Well, John, what has come of your thinking?" he asked.
"I don't like it, George."
"You mayn't like it, John, but you will do it. I am not going to have mygirl run after by ruined spendthrifts who want her money to repair theirfortunes; and I tell you frankly, if you refuse I shall go up to towntomorrow, and I shall make a new will, leaving all my property to yourson, subject to a life annuity of 200 pounds a year to the child, andordering that, in the event of his dying before he comes of age, or ofrefusing to accept the provisions of the will, or handing any of theproperty or money over to my daughter, the whole estate, money, jewels,and all, shall go to the London hospitals, subject, as before, to theannuity.
"Don't be an ass, brother John. Do you think that I don't know what Iam doing? I have seen enough of the evils of marrying for money out inIndia. Every ship that comes out brings so many girls sent out to somerelation to be put on the marriage market, and marrying men old enoughto be pretty nearly their grandfathers, with the natural consequencethat there is the devil to pay before they have been married a year ortwo. Come, you know you will do it; why not give in at once, and havedone with it? It is not a bad thing for you, it will be a good thing foryour boy, it will save my girl from fortune hunters, and enable me todie quietly and comfortably."
"All right, George, I will do it. Mind, I don't do it willingly, but Ido it for your sake."
"That is right," Colonel Thorndyke said, holding out his thin bronzedhand to his brother; "that is off my mind. Now, there is only one otherthing--those confounded jewels. But I won't talk about them now."
It was not indeed till three or four days later that the Colonel againspoke to his brother on any than ordinary matters. He had indeed beenvery weak and ailing. After breakfast, when, as usual, he was a littlestronger and brighter than later in the day, he said to his brothersuddenly:--
"I suppose there are no hiding places in this room?"
"Hiding places! What do you mean, George?"
"Places where a fellow could hide up and hear what we are talkingabout."
"No, I don't think so," the Squire replied, looking round vaguely. "Suchan idea never occurred to me. Why do you ask?"
"Because, John, if there is such a thing as a hiding place, someone willbe sure to be hiding there. Where does that door lead to?"
"It doesn't lead anywhere; it used to lead into the next room, but itwas closed up before my time, and turned into a cupboard, and this dooris permanently closed."
"Do you mind stepping round into the next room and seeing if anyone isin the cupboard?"
Thinking that his brother was a little light headed, John Thorndyke wentinto the next room, and returned, saying gravely that no one was there.
"Will you look behind the curtains, John, and under this sofa, andeverywhere else where even a cat could be hidden? That seems all right,"the Colonel went on, as his brother continued the search. "You knowthere is a saying that walls have ears, and I am not sure that it isnot so. I have been haunted with the feeling that everything I did waswatched, and that everything I said was listened to for years; and I cantell you it is a devilishly unpleasant thought. Draw your chair quiteclose to me. It is about my jewels, John. I always had a fancy forjewels--not to wear them, but to own them. In my time I have had goodopportunities in that way, both in the Madras Presidency and in theCarnatic. In the first place, I have never cared for taking presents inmoney, but I have never refused jewels; and what with Rajahs and Nabobsand Ministers that one had helped or done a good turn to somehow, a gooddeal came to me that way.
"Then I always made a point of carrying money with me, and after adefeat of the enemy or a successful siege, there was always lots ofloot, and the soldiers were glad enough to sell anything in the way ofjewels for a tithe of their value in gold. I should say if I put thevalue of the jewels at 50,000 pounds I am not much wide of the mark.That is all right, there is no bother about them; the trouble camefrom a diamond bracelet that I got from a soldier. We were in camp nearTanjore. I was officer of the day. I had made my rounds, and was comingback to my quarters, when I saw a soldier coming out of a tent thirtyor forty yards away. It was a moonlight night, and the tent was onebelonging to a white Madras regiment. Suddenly, I saw another figure,that had been lying down outside the tent, rise. I saw the flash of themoonlight on steel; then there was a blow, and the soldier fell. I drewmy sword and rushed forward.
"The native--for I could see that it was a native--was bending over theman he had stabbed. His back was towards me, and on the sandy soil hedid not hear my footsteps until I was close to him; then he sprang upwith a cry of fury, and leaped on me like a tiger. I was so taken bysurprise that before I could use my sword the fellow had given me anasty stab on the shoulder; but before he could strike again I hadrun him through. By this time several other, men ran out of the tent,uttering exclamations of rage at seeing their fallen comrade.
"'What is it, sir?' they asked me.
"'This scoundrel, here, has stabbed your comrade,' I said. 'He did notsee me coming, and I ran up just as he was, I think, rifling him forbooty. He came at me like a wild cat, and has given me a nasty stab.However, I have put an end to his game. Is your comrade dead?'
"'No, sir, he is breathing still; but I fancy there is little chance forhim.'
"'You had better carry him to the hospital tent at once; I will send asurgeon there.'
"I called the regimental surgeon up, and went with him to the hospitaltent, telling him what had happened. He shook his head after examiningthe man's wound, which was fairly between the shoulders.
"'He may live a few hours, but there is no chance of his gettingbetter.'
"'Now,' I said, 'you may as well have a look at my wound, for thevillain stabbed me too.'
"'You have had a pretty narrow escape of it,' he said, as he examinedit. 'If he had struck an inch or two nearer the shoulder the knife wouldhave gone right into you; but you see I expect he was springing as hestruck, and the blow fell nearly perpendicularly, and it glanced downover your ribs, and made a gash six inches long. There is no danger. Iwill bandage it now, and tomorrow morning I will sew the edges together,and make a proper job of it.'
"In the morning one of the hospital attendants came to me and said thesoldier who had been wounded wanted to speak to me. The doctor said hewould not live long. I went across to him. He was on a bed some littledistance from any of the others, for it was the healthy season, andthere were only three or four others in the tent.
"'I hear, Major Thorndyke,' he said in a low voice, 'that you killedthat fellow who gave me this wound, and that you yourself were stabbed.'
"'Mine is not a serious business, my man,' I said. 'I wish you had gotoff as easily.'
"'I have been expecting it, sir,' he said; 'and how I came to be foolenough to go outside the tent by myself I cannot think. I was uneasy,and cou
ld not sleep; I felt hot and feverish, and came out for a breathof fresh air. I will tell you what caused it, sir. About two years agoa cousin of mine, in one of the King's regiments, who was dying, theysaid, of fever (but I know the doctors thought he had been poisoned),said to me, "Here are some things that will make your fortune if everyou get to England; but I tell you beforehand, they are dangerous thingsto keep about you. I fancy that they have something to do with my beinglike this now. A year ago I went with some others into one of theirgreat temples on a feast day. Well, the god had got on all his trinkets,and among them was a bracelet with the biggest diamonds I ever saw. Idid not think so much of it at the time, but I kept on thinking of themafterwards, and it happened that some months after our visit we took theplace by storm. I made straight for the temple, and I got the jewels. Itdon't matter how I got them--I got them. Well, since that I have neverhad any peace; pretty near every night one or other of our tents wasturned topsy turvy, all the kits turned out, and even the ground dugup with knives. You know how silently Indian thieves can work. However,nothing was ever stolen, and as for the diamonds, at the end of everyday's march I always went out as soon as it was quite dark, and buriedthe bracelet between the tent pegs; it did not take a minute to do. Whenwe moved, of course, I took it up again. At last I gave that up, forhowever early I turned out in the morning there was sure to be a nativeabout. I took then to dropping it down the barrel of my gun; that way Ibeat them. Still, I have always somehow felt myself watched, and my tenthas been disturbed a great deal oftener than any of the others. I havehad half a mind to throw the things away many a time, but I could notbring myself to do it."
"'Well, sir, I have carried the bracelet ever since. I have done as hedid, and always had it in my musket barrel--When we had fighting to do Iwould drop it out into my hand and slip it into my ammunition pouch;but I know that I have always been followed, just as Bill was. I supposethey found out that I went to see him before he died. Anyhow, my tenthas been rummaged again and again. I have no doubt that fellow whom youkilled last night had been watching me all the time, and thought that Ihad come out to hide the things. However, there they are, sir. One of mymates brought my musket here a quarter of an hour ago, and emptied thebarrel out for me. Now, sir, you did your best to save my life lastnight, and you killed that fellow who did for me, and you pretty nearlygot killed yourself. I have got no one else I could give the things to,and if I were to give them to one of my mates in the regiment they wouldprobably cost him his life, as they have cost me mine. But you will knowwhat to do with the things; they are worth a lot of money if you can getthem home. Mind, sir, you have got to be careful. I have heard tales ofhow those priests will follow up a temple jewel that has been lost foryears, and never give it up until they get it back again.'
"'I ought to give it up,' I said.
"'You don't know where it came from, sir,' he replied. 'I was one of aparty of convalescents who were sent up just before that fight, and myown regiment was not there: it might have been here, and it might havebeen in the Carnatic. Bill never told me, and I have no more idea than ababe unborn.'
"The gems were certainly magnificent; and though I knew well enough thatthese untiring Brahmins would not be long in guessing that the thingshad come into my possession, I took the bracelet. I thought, anyhow,that I might have a few hours' start; the fellow I had killed might, ofcourse, have one or two others with him, but I had to risk that. I gotleave an hour later, and went down to Madras, and got them put intoa place of safety. That I was watched all the time I was in Indiaafterwards I have no doubt, but no attempts were made to assassinateme. They would have known that I went straight away, but whether I hadburied them somewhere on the road, or had given them to someone's careat Madras they could not know, and there was, therefore, nothing forthem to do but to wait till I made a move.
"I have no doubt whatever that they came over in the same ship with me.Two or three times during the week I was in London I saw colored men inthe street outside the hotel. Once it was a Lascar seaman, another timea dark looking sailor in European clothes: he might pass for a Spaniard.Several times as I was going about in a sedan chair I looked outsuddenly, and each time there was a dark face somewhere in the streetbehind. I had a letter this morning from the lawyer, and he mentionedthat two days ago his offices had been broken into, and every strong boxand drawer forced open, but that, curiously enough, they could not findthat anything had been stolen, though in the cashier's box there were 30pounds in gold. Of course it was my friends. I have no doubt that one ortwo of them have followed me down here; and for anything I know they maybe lurking somewhere in your garden at the present moment--that is, ifthey are not standing beside us in this room."
John Thorndyke looked round with an uncomfortable feeling.
"How do you mean, George?"
"I mean some of those Indian fellows can do all sorts of wonderfulconjuring tricks. I have seen them go up into the air on a rope andnever come down again, and for aught I know they may be able to renderthemselves invisible. Seriously, I think that it is likely as not."
"Well, and where are the things to be found now, George?"
"That I won't tell you, John. Before I go I will whisper it in your ear,and give you the means of finding them, but not till then. No, I willwrite it down on a piece of paper, and slip it into your hand. As soonas you get out of the room you glance at it, and then put the piece ofpaper into your mouth, chew it up and swallow it. I tell you I dare noteven whisper it; but whatever you do, take no steps in the matter untilyour son comes of age."
"There can surely be no danger in another twelve years, George; theywill have given up the search long before that."
"Not they," the Colonel said emphatically. "If they die others will taketheir places: it is a sacred business with them. My advice to you is,either sell them directly you get them into your hands, or go straightto Amsterdam and sell them there to one of the diamond cutters, who willturn them out so that they will be altered beyond all recognition. Don'tsell more than two stones at most to any one man; then they will nevercome out as a bracelet again, and the hunt will be over."
"I would almost rather leave them alone altogether, George."
"Well, they are worth 50,000 pounds if they are worth a penny, and agreat deal more I should say; but you cannot leave them alone withoutleaving everything alone, for all my gems are with them, and 52,000pounds in gold. Of course, if you like you can, when you get the box,pick those diamonds out and chuck them away, but if you do you must doit openly, so that anyone watching you may see you do it, otherwise thesearch will go on."
Two days later, as Ramoo was helping the Colonel to the sofa, the latterwas seized with a violent fit of coughing, then a rush of blood pouredfrom his lips. His brother and Ramoo laid him on the sofa almostinsensible.
"Run and get some water, Ramoo," John Thorndyke said.
As Ramoo left the room the Colonel feebly placed his snuffbox in hisbrother's hand with a significant glance; then he made several desperateefforts to speak, and tried to struggle up into a sitting position;another gush of blood poured from him, and as it ceased he fell backdead.
John Thorndyke was bitterly grieved at the death of his brother, and itwas not until he went up to his room that night that he thought of thesnuffbox that he had dropped into his pocket as his brother handed itto him. He had no doubt that it contained the instructions as to thetreasure. It was of Indian manufacture. He emptied the snuff from it,but it contained nothing else. He was convinced that the secret must behidden there, and after in vain endeavoring to find a spring, he tooka poker and hammered it, and as it bent a spring gave way, and showed avery shallow false bottom.
In this was a thin gold coin, evidently of considerable antiquity, and asmall piece of paper, on which was written the word "Masulipatam." JohnThorndyke looked at it in bewilderment; that it was connected with thesecret he felt certain, but alone it was absolutely useless. Doubtlesshis brother had intended to give him the key of the riddle, when he
hadso desperately striven to speak. After in vain thinking the matter overhe said:
"Well, thank goodness; there is nothing to be done about the matter foranother thirteen or fourteen years; it is of no use worrying about itnow." He went to an old fashioned cabinet, and placed the coin and pieceof paper in a very cunningly devised secret drawer. The next morninghe went out into the garden and dropped the battered snuffbox into thewell, and then dismissed the subject from his mind.
