Sherlock Holmes complete collection by sir arthur conan doyle

THE SIGN OF FOUR: Chapter 12 THE STRANGE STORY OF JONATHAN SMALL

A VERY patient man was that inspector in the cab, for it was a weary timebefore I rejoined him. His face clouded over when I showed him theempty box."There goes the reward!" said he gloomily. "Where there is no moneythere is no pay. This night's work would have been worth a tenner each toSam Brown and me if the treasure had been there.""Mr. Thaddeus Sholto is a rich man," I said; "he will see that you arerewarded, treasure or no."The inspector shook his head despondently, however."It's a bad job," he repeated; "and so Mr. Athelney Jones will think."His forecast proved to be correct, for the detective looked blank enoughwhen I got to Baker Street and showed him the empty box. They had onlyjust arrived, Holmes, the prisoner, and he, for they had changed theirplans so far as to report themselves at a station upon the way. Mycompanion lounged in his armchair with his usual listless expression,while Small sat stolidly opposite to him with his wooden leg cocked overhis sound one. As I exhibited the empty box he leaned back in his chairand laughed aloud."This is your doing, Small," said Athelney Jones angrily."Yes, I have put it away where you shall never lay hand upon it," hecried exultantly. "It is my treasure, and if I can't have the loot I'll takedarned good care that no one else does. I tell you that no living man hasany right to it, unless it is three men who are in the Andaman convictbarracks and myself. I know now that I cannot have the use of it, and Iknow that they cannot. I have acted all through for them as much as formyself. It's been the sign of four with us always. Well, I know that theywould have had me do just what I have done, and throw the treasure intothe Thames rather than let it go to kith or kin of Sholto or Morstan. It wasnot to make them rich that we did for Achmet. You'll find the treasurewhere the key is and where little Tonga is. When I saw that your launchmust catch us, I put the loot away in a safe place. There are no rupees foryou this journey.""You are deceiving us, Small," said Athelney Jones sternly; "if you hadwished [144] to throw the treasure into the Thames, it would have beeneasier for you to have thrown box and all.""Easier for me to throw and easier for you to recover," he answeredwith a shrewd, side-long look. "The man that was clever enough to hunt me down is clever enough to pick an iron box from the bottom of a river.Now that they are scattered over five miles or so, it may be a harder job.It went to my heart to do it though. I was half mad when you came upwith us. However, there's no good grieving over it. I've had ups in mylife, and I've had downs, but I've learned not to cry over spilled milk.""This is a very serious matter, Small," said the detective. "If you hadhelped justice, instead of thwarting it in this way, you would have had abetter chance at your trial.""Justice!" snarled the ex-convict. "A pretty justice! Whose loot is this,if it is not ours? Where is the justice that I should give it up to those whohave never earned it? Look how I have earned it! Twenty long years inthat fever-ridden swamp, all day at work under the mangrove-tree, allnight chained up in the filthy convict-huts, bitten by mosquitoes, rackedwith ague, bullied by every cursed black-faced policeman who loved totake it out of a white man. That was how I earned the Agra treasure, andyou talk to me of justice because I cannot bear to feel that I have paid thisprice only that another may enjoy it! I would rather swing a score oftimes, or have one of Tonga's darts in my hide, than live in a convict'scell and feel that another man is at his ease in a palace with the moneythat should be mine."Small had dropped his mask of stoicism, and all this came out in a wildwhirl of words, while his eyes blazed, and the handcuffs clanked togetherwith the impassioned movement of his hands. I could understand, as I sawthe fury and the passion of the man, that it was no groundless or unnaturalterror which had possessed Major Sholto when he first learned that theinjured convict was upon his track."You forget that we know nothing of all this," said Holmes quietly."We have not heard your story, and we cannot tell how far justice mayoriginally have been on your side.""Well, sir, you have been very fair-spoken to me, though I can see thatI have you to thank that I have these bracelets upon my wrists. Still, I bearno grudge for that. It is all fair and above-board. If you want to hear mystory, I have no wish to hold it back. What I say to you is God's truth,every word of it. Thank you, you can put the glass beside me here, andI'll put my lips to it if I am dry."I am a Worcestershire man myself, born near Pershore. I dare say youwould find a heap of Smalls living there now if you were to look. I haveoften thought of taking a look round there, but the truth is that I was nevermuch of a credit to the family, and I doubt if they would be so very gladto see me. They were all steady, chapel-going folk, small farmers, wellknown and respected over the countryside, while I was always a bit of arover. At last, however, when I was about eighteen, I gave them no moretrouble, for I got into a mess over a girl and could only get out of it againby taking the Queen's shilling and joining the Third Buffs, which was juststarting for India."I wasn't destined to do much soldiering, however. I had just got pastthe goose-step and learned to handle my musket, when I was fool enoughto go swimming in the Ganges. Luckily for me, my company sergeant,John Holder, was in [145] the water at the same time, and he was one of the finest swimmers in the service. A crocodile took me just as I washalfway across and nipped off my right leg as clean as a surgeon couldhave done it, just above the knee. What with the shock and the loss ofblood, I fainted, and should have been drowned if Holder had not caughthold of me and paddled for the bank. I was five months in hospital over it,and when at last I was able to limp out of it with this timber toe strappedto my stump, I found myself invalided out of the Army and unfitted forany active occupation."I was, as you can imagine, pretty down on my luck at this time, for Iwas a useless cripple, though not yet in my twentieth year. However, mymisfortune soon proved to be a blessing in disguise. A man named AbelWhite, who had come out there as an indigo-planter, wanted an overseerto look after his coolies and keep them up to their work. He happened tobe a friend of our colonel's, who had taken an interest in me since theaccident. To make a long story short, the colonel recommended mestrongly for the post, and, as the work was mostly to be done onhorseback, my leg was no great obstacle, for I had enough thigh left tokeep a good grip on the saddle. What I had to do was to ride over theplantation, to keep an eye on the men as they worked, and to report theidlers. The pay was fair, I had comfortable quarters, and altogether I wascontent to spend the remainder of my life in indigo-planting. Mr. AbelWhite was a kind man, and he would often drop into my little shanty andsmoke a pipe with me, for white folk out there feel their hearts warm toeach other as they never do here at home."Well, I was never in luck's way long. Suddenly, without a note ofwarning, the great mutiny broke upon us. One month India lay as still andpeaceful, to all appearance, as Surrey or Kent; the next there were twohundred thousand black devils let loose, and the country was a perfecthell. Of course you know all about it, gentlemen-a deal more than I do,very like, since reading is not in my line. I only know what I saw with myown eyes. Our plantation was at a place called Muttra, near the border ofthe Northwest Provinces. Night after night the whole sky was alight withthe burning bungalows, and day after day we had small companies ofEuropeans passing through our estate with their wives and children, ontheir way to Agra, where were the nearest troops. Mr. Abel White was anobstinate man. He had it in his head that the affair had been exaggerated,and that it would blow over as suddenly as it had sprung up. There he saton his veranda, drinking whisky-pegs and smoking cheroots, while thecountry was in a blaze about him. Of course we stuck by him, I andDawson, who, with his wife, used to do the book-work and the managing.Well, one fine day the crash came. I had been away on a distant plantationand was riding slowly home in the evening, when my eye fell uponsomething all huddled together at the bottom of a steep nullah. I rodedown to see what it was, and the cold struck through my heart when Ifound it was Dawson's wife, all cut into ribbons, and half eaten by jackalsand native dogs. A little further up the road Dawson himself was lying onhis face, quite dead, with an empty revolver in his hand, and four sepoyslying across each other in front of him. I reined up my horse, wonderingwhich way I should turn; but at that moment I saw thick smoke curling up from Abel White's bungalow and the flames beginning to burst throughthe roof. I knew then that I could do my employer no good, but wouldonly throw my own life away if I meddled in the matter. From where Istood I could see hundreds of the black fiends, with their [146] red coatsstill on their backs, dancing and howling round the burning house. Someof them pointed at me, and a couple of bullets sang past my head: so Ibroke away across the paddy-fields, and found myself late at night safewithin the walls at Agra."As it proved, however, there was no great safety there, either. Thewhole country was up like a swarm of bees. Wherever the English couldcollect in little bands they held just the ground that their gunscommanded. Everywhere else they were helpless fugitives. It was a fightof the millions against the hundreds; and the cruellest part of it was thatthese men that we fought against, foot, horse, and gunners, were our ownpicked troops, whom we had taught and trained, handling our ownweapons and blowing our own bugle-calls. At Agra there were the ThirdBengal Fusiliers, some Sikhs, two troops of horse, and a battery ofartillery. A volunteer corps of clerks and merchants had been formed, andthis I joined, wooden leg and all. We went out to meet the rebels atShahgunge early in July, and we beat them back for a time, but ourpowder gave out, and we had to fall back upon the city."Nothing but the worst news came to us from every side-which is notto be wondered at, for if you look at the map you will see that we wereright in the heart of it. Lucknow is rather better than a hundred miles to the east, and Cawnpore about as far to the south. From every point on thecompass there was nothing but torture and murder and outrage."The city of Agra is a great place, swarming with fanatics and fiercedevil-worshippers of all sorts. Our handful of men were lost among thenarrow, winding streets. Our leader moved across the river, therefore, andtook up his position in the old fort of Agra. I don't know if any of yougentlemen have ever read or heard anything of that old fort. It is a veryqueer place-the queerest that ever I was in, and I have been in some rumcorners, too. First of all it is enormous in size. I should think that theenclosure must be acres and acres. There is a modern part, which took allour garrison, women, children, stores, and everything else, with plenty ofroom over. But the modern part is nothing like the size of the old quarter,where nobody goes, and which is given over to the scorpions and thecentipedes. It is all full of great deserted halls, and winding passages, andlong corridors twisting in and out, so that it is easy enough for folk to getlost in it. For this reason it was seldom that anyone went into it, thoughnow and again a party with torches might go exploring."The river washes along the front of the old fort, and so protects it, buton the sides and behind there are many doors, and these had to beguarded, of course, in the old quarter as well as in that which was actuallyheld by our troops. We were short-handed, with hardly men enough toman the angles of the building and to serve the guns. It was impossible forus, therefore, to station a strong guard at every one of the innumerablegates. What we did was to organize a central guard-house in the middle ofthe fort, and to leave each gate under the charge of one white man andtwo or three natives. I was selected to take charge during certain hours ofthe night of a small isolated door upon the south-west side of the building.Two Sikh troopers were placed under my command, and I was instructedif anything went wrong to fire my musket, when I might rely upon helpcoming at once from the central guard. As the guard was a good twohundred paces away, however, and as the space between was cut up into alabyrinth of passages and corridors, I had great doubts as to whether theycould arrive in time to be of any use in case of an actual attack.[147] "Well, I was pretty proud at having this small command given me,since I was a raw recruit, and a game-legged one at that. For two nights Ikept the watch with my Punjabees. They were tall, fierce-looking chaps,Mahomet Singh and Abdullah Khan by name, both old fighting men, whohad borne arms against us at Chilian Wallah. They could talk Englishpretty well, but I could get little out of them. They preferred to standtogether, and jabber all night in their queer Sikh lingo. For myself, I usedto stand outside the gateway, looking down on the broad, winding riverand on the twinkling lights of the great city. The beating of drums, therattle of tomtoms, and the yells and howls of the rebels, drunk with opiumand with bang, were enough to remind us all night of our dangerousneighbours across the stream. Every two hours the officer of the nightused to come round to all the posts to make sure that all was well."The third night of my watch was dark and dirty, with a small drivingrain. It was dreary work standing in the gateway hour after hour in suchweather. I tried again and again to make my Sikhs talk, but without much success. At two in the morning the rounds passed and broke for a momentthe weariness of the night. Finding that my companions would not be ledinto conversation, I took out my pipe and laid down my musket to strikethe match. In an instant the two Sikhs were upon me. One of themsnatched my firelock up and levelled it at my head, while the other held agreat knife to my throat and swore between his teeth that he would plungeit into me if I moved a step."My first thought was that these fellows were in league with the rebels,and that this was the beginning of an assault. If our door were in thehands of the sepoys the place must fall, and the women and children betreated as they were in Cawnpore. Maybe you gentlemen think that I amjust making out a case for myself, but I give you my word that when Ithought of that, though I felt the point of the knife at my throat, I openedmy mouth with the intention of giving a scream, if it was my last one,which might alarm the main guard. The man who held me seemed toknow my thoughts; for, even as I braced myself to it, he whispered:'Don't make a noise. The fort is safe enough. There are no rebel dogs onthis side of the river.' There was the ring of truth in what he said, and Iknew that if I raised my voice I was a dead man. I could read it in thefellow's brown eyes. I waited, therefore, in silence, to see what it was thatthey wanted from me."'Listen to me, sahib,' said the taller and fiercer of the pair, the onewhom they called Abdullah Khan. 'You must either be with us now, or you must be silenced forever. The thing is too great a one for us tohesitate. Either you are heart and soul with us on your oath on the cross ofthe Christians, or your body this night shall be thrown into the ditch, andwe shall pass over to our brothers in the rebel army. There is no middleway. Which is it to be-death or life? We can only give you three minutesto decide, for the time is passing, and all must be done before the roundscome again.'"'How can I decide?' said I. 'You have not told me what you want ofme. But I tell you now that if it is anything against the safety of the fort Iwill have no truck with it, so you can drive home your knife andwelcome.'"'It is nothing against the fort,' said he. 'We only ask you to do thatwhich your countrymen come to this land for. We ask you to be rich. Ifyou will be one of us this night, we will swear to you upon the nakedknife, and by the threefold oath which no Sikh was ever known to break,that you shall have your fair share of the loot. A quarter of the treasureshall be yours. We can say no fairer.'[148] "'But what is the treasure then?' I asked. 'I am as ready to be richas you can be if you will but show me how it can be done.'"'You will swear, then,' said he, 'by the bones of your father, by thehonour of your mother, by the cross of your faith, to raise no hand andspeak no word against us, either now or afterwards?'"'I will swear it,' I answered, 'provided that the fort is not endangered.'"'Then my comrade and I will swear that you shall have a quarter ofthe treasure which shall be equally divided among the four of us.'"'There are but three,' said I."'No; Dost Akbar must have his share. We can tell the tale to you whilewe wait them. Do you stand at the gate, Mahomet Singh, and give noticeof their coming. The thing stands thus, sahib, and I tell it to you because Iknow that an oath is binding upon a Feringhee, and that we may trust you.Had you been a lying Hindoo, though you had sworn by all the gods intheir false temples, your blood would have been upon the knife and yourbody in the water. But the Sikh knows the Englishman, and theEnglishman knows the Sikh. Hearken, then, to what I have to say."'There is a rajah in the northern provinces who has much wealth,though his lands are small. Much has come to him from his father, andmore still he has set by himself, for he is of a low nature and hoards hisgold rather than spend it. When the troubles broke out he would befriends both with the lion and the tiger-with the sepoy and with theCompany's raj. Soon, however, it seemed to him that the white men's daywas come, for through all the land he could hear of nothing but of theirdeath and their overthrow. Yet, being a careful man, he made such plansthat, come what might, half at least of his treasure should be left to him.That which was in gold and silver he kept by him in the vaults of hispalace, but the most precious stones and the choicest pearls that he had heput in an iron box and sent it by a trusty servant, who, under the guise of amerchant, should take it to the fort at Agra, there to lie until the land is atpeace. Thus, if the rebels won he would have his money, but if theCompany conquered, his jewels would be saved to him. Having thus divided his hoard, he threw himself into the cause of the sepoys, sincethey were strong upon his borders. By his doing this, mark you, sahib, hisproperty becomes the due of those who have been true to their salt."'This pretended merchant, who travels under the name of Achmet, isnow in the city of Agra and desires to gain his way into the fort. He haswith him as travelling-companion my foster-brother Dost Akbar, whoknows his secret. Dost Akbar has promised this night to lead him to a sidepostern of the fort, and has chosen this one for his purpose. Here he willcome presently, and here he will find Mahomet Singh and myselfawaiting him. The place is lonely, and none shall know of his coming.The world shall know the merchant Achmet no more, but the greattreasure of the rajah shall be divided among us. What say you to it, sahib?'"In Worcestershire the life of a man seems a great and a sacred thing;but it is very different when there is fire and blood all round you, and youhave been used to meeting death at every turn. Whether Achmet themerchant lived or died was a thing as light as air to me, but at the talkabout the treasure my heart turned to it, and I thought of what I might doin the old country with it, and how my folk would stare when they sawtheir ne'er-do-well coming back with his pockets full of gold moidores. Ihad, therefore, already made up my mind. [149] Abdullah Khan, however,thinking that I hesitated, pressed the matter more closely."'Consider, sahib,' said he, 'that if this man is taken by thecommandant he will be hung or shot, and his jewels taken by thegovernment, so that no man will be a rupee the better for them. Now,since we do the taking of him, why should we not do the rest as well? Thejewels will be as well with us as in the Company's coffers. There will beenough to make every one of us rich men and great chiefs. No one canknow about the matter, for here we are cut off from all men. What couldbe better for the purpose? Say again, then, sahib, whether you are with us,or if we must look upon you as an enemy.'"'I am with you heart and soul,' said I."'It is well,' he answered, handing me back my firelock. 'You see thatwe trust you, for your word, like ours, is not to be broken. We have nowonly to wait for my brother and the merchant.'"'Does your brother know, then, of what you will do?' I asked."'The plan is his. He has devised it. We will go to the gate and sharethe watch with Mahomet Singh.'"The rain was still falling steadily, for it was just the beginning of thewet season. Brown, heavy clouds were drifting across the sky, and it washard to see more than a stonecast. A deep moat lay in front of our door,but the water was in places nearly dried up, and it could easily be crossed.It was strange to me to be standing there with those two wild Punjabeeswaiting for the man who was coming to his death."Suddenly my eye caught the glint of a shaded lantern at the other sideof the moat. It vanished among the mound-heaps, and then appeared againcoming slowly in our direction."'Here they are!' I exclaimed."'You will challenge him, sahib, as usual,' whispered Abdullah. 'Givehim no cause for fear. Send us in with him, and we shall do the rest while you stay here on guard. Have the lantern ready to uncover, that we maybe sure that it is indeed the man.'"The light had flickered onward, now stopping and now advancing,until I could see two dark figures upon the other side of the moat. I letthem scramble down the sloping bank, splash through the mire, and climbhalfway up to the gate before I challenged them."'Who goes there?' said I in a subdued voice."'Friends,' came the answer. I uncovered my lantern and threw a floodof light upon them. The first was an enormous Sikh with a black beardwhich swept nearly down to his cummerbund. Outside of a show I havenever seen so tall a man. The other was a little fat, round fellow with agreat yellow turban and a bundle in his hand, done up in a shawl. Heseemed to be all in a quiver with fear, for his hands twitched as if he hadthe ague, and his head kept turning to left and right with two bright littletwinkling eyes, like a mouse when he ventures out from his hole. It gaveme the chills to think of killing him, but I thought of the treasure, and myheart set as hard as a flint within me. When he saw my white face he gavea little chirrup of joy and came running up towards me."'Your protection, sahib,' he panted, 'your protection for the unhappymerchant Achmet. I have travelled across Rajpootana, that I might seekthe shelter of the fort at Agra. I have been robbed and beaten and abusedbecause I have been the [150] friend of the Company. It is a blessed nightthis when I am once more in safety-I and my poor possessions.'"'What have you in the bundle?' I asked."'An iron box,' he answered, 'which contains one or two little familymatters which are of no value to others but which I should be sorry tolose. Yet I am not a beggar; and I shall reward you, young sahib, and yourgovernor also if he will give me the shelter I ask.'"I could not trust myself to speak longer with the man. The more Ilooked at his fat, frightened face, the harder did it seem that we shouldslay him in cold blood. It was best to get it over."'Take him to the main guard,' said I. The two Sikhs closed in uponhim on each side, and the giant walked behind, while they marched inthrough the dark gateway. Never was a man so compassed round withdeath. I remained at the gateway with the lantern."I could hear the measured tramp of their footsteps sounding throughthe lonely corridors. Suddenly it ceased, and I heard voices and a scuffle,with the sound of blows. A moment later there came, to my horror, a rushof footsteps coming in my direction, with a loud breathing of a runningman. I turned my lantern down the long straight passage, and there wasthe fat man, running like the wind, with a smear of blood across his face,and close at his heels, bounding like a tiger, the great black-bearded Sikh,with a knife flashing in his hand. I have never seen a man run so fast asthat little merchant. He was gaining on the Sikh, and I could see that if heonce passed me and got to the open air he would save himself yet. Myheart softened to him, but again the thought of his treasure turned me hardand bitter. I cast my firelock between his legs as he raced past, and herolled twice over like a shot rabbit. Ere he could stagger to his feet theSikh was upon him and buried his knife twice in his side. The man neveruttered moan nor moved muscle but lay where he had fallen. I thinkmyself that he may have broken his neck with the fall. You see,gentlemen, that I am keeping my promise. I am telling you every word ofthe business just exactly as it happened, whether it is in my favour or not."He stopped and held out his manacled hands for the whisky and waterwhich Holmes had brewed for him. For myself, I confess that I had nowconceived the utmost horror of the man not only for this cold-bloodedbusiness in which he had been concerned but even more for the somewhatflippant and careless way in which he narrated it. Whatever punishmentwas in store for him, I felt that he might expect no sympathy from me.Sherlock Holmes and Jones sat with their hands upon their knees, deeplyinterested in the story but with the same disgust written upon their faces.He may have observed it, for there was a touch of defiance in his voiceand manner as he proceeded."It was all very bad, no doubt," said he. "I should like to know howmany fellows in my shoes would have refused a share of this loot whenthey knew that they would have their throats cut for their pains. Besides,it was my life or his when once he was in the fort. If he had got out, thewhole business would come to light, and I should have been courtmartialled and shot as likely as not; for people were not very lenient at atime like that.""Go on with your story," said Holmes shortly."Well, we carried him in, Abdullah, Akbar, and I. A fine weight hewas, too, for all that he was so short. Mahomet Singh was left to guard thedoor. We took [151] him to a place which the Sikhs had already prepared.It was some distance off, where a winding passage leads to a great emptyhall, the brick walls of which were all crumbling to pieces. The earth floorhad sunk in at one place, making a natural grave, so we left Achmet themerchant there, having first covered him over with loose bricks. Thisdone, we all went back to the treasure. "It lay where he had dropped it when he was first attacked. The boxwas the same which now lies open upon your table. A key was hung by asilken cord to that carved handle upon the top. We opened it, and the lightof the lantern gleamed upon a collection of gems such as I have read ofand thought about when I was a little lad at Pershore. It was blinding tolook upon them. When we had feasted our eyes we took them all out andmade a list of them. There were one hundred and forty-three diamonds ofthe first water, including one which has been called, I believe, 'the GreatMogul,' and is said to be the second largest stone in existence. Then therewere ninety-seven very fine emeralds, and one hundred and seventyrubies, some of which, however, were small. There were forty carbuncles,two hundred and ten sapphires, sixty-one agates, and a great quantity ofberyls, onyxes, cats'-eyes, turquoises, and other stones, the very names ofwhich I did not know at the time, though I have become more familiarwith them since. Besides this, there were nearly three hundred very finepearls, twelve of which were set in a gold coronet. By the way, these lasthad been taken out of the chest, and were not there when I recovered it."After we had counted our treasures we put them back into the chestand carried them to the gateway to show them to Mahomet Singh. Thenwe solemnly renewed our oath to stand by each other and be true to oursecret. We agreed to conceal our loot in a safe place until the countryshould be at peace again, and then to divide it equally among ourselves.There was no use dividing it at present, for if gems of such value werefound upon us it would cause suspicion, and there was no privacy in thefort nor any place where we could keep them. We carried the box,therefore, into the same hall where we had buried the body, and there,under certain bricks in the best-preserved wall, we made a hollow and putour treasure. We made careful note of the place, and next day I drew fourplans, one for each of us, and put the sign of the four of us at the bottom,for we had sworn that we should each always act for all, so that nonemight take advantage. That is an oath that I can put my hand to my heartand swear that I have never broken."Well, there's no use my telling you gentlemen what came of theIndian mutiny. After Wilson took Delhi and Sir Colin relieved Lucknowthe back of the business was broken. Fresh troops came pouring in, andNana Sahib made himself scarce over the frontier. A flying column underColonel Greathed came round to Agra and cleared the Pandies away fromit. Peace seemed to be settling upon the country, and we four werebeginning to hope that the time was at hand when we might safely go offwith our shares of the plunder. In a moment, however, our hopes wereshattered by our being arrested as the murderers of Achmet."It came about in this way. When the rajah put his jewels into the handsof Achmet he did it because he knew that he was a trusty man. They aresuspicious folk in the East, however: so what does this rajah do but take asecond even more trusty servant and set him to play the spy upon the first.This second man was ordered never to let Achmet out of his sight, and hefollowed him like his shadow. He went after him that night and saw himpass through the doorway. Of course [152] he thought he had taken refugein the fort and applied for admission there himself next day, but could find no trace of Achmet. This seemed to him so strange that he spokeabout it to a sergeant of guides, who brought it to the ears of thecommandant. A thorough search was quickly made, and the body wasdiscovered. Thus at the very moment that we thought that all was safe wewere all four seized and brought to trial on a charge of murder -three ofus because we had held the gate that night, and the fourth because he wasknown to have been in the company of the murdered man. Not a wordabout the jewels came out at the trial, for the rajah had been deposed anddriven out of India: so no one had any particular interest in them. Themurder, however, was clearly made out, and it was certain that we mustall have been concerned in it. The three Sikhs got penal servitude for life,and I was condemned to death, though my sentence was afterwardscommuted to the same as the others."It was rather a queer position that we found ourselves in then. Therewe were all four tied by the leg and with precious little chance of evergetting out again, while we each held a secret which might have put eachof us in a palace if we could only have made use of it. It was enough tomake a man eat his heart out to have to stand the kick and the cuff ofevery petty jack-in-office, to have rice to eat and water to drink, when thatgorgeous fortune was ready for him outside, just waiting to be picked up.It might have driven me mad; but I was always a pretty stubborn one, so Ijust held on and bided my time."At last it seemed to me to have come. I was changed from Agra toMadras, and from there to Blair Island in the Andamans. There are veryfew white convicts at this settlement, and, as I had behaved well from thefirst, I soon found myself a sort of privileged person. I was given a hut inHope Town, which is a small place on the slopes of Mount Harriet, and Iwas left pretty much to myself. It is a dreary, fever-stricken place, and allbeyond our little clearings was infested with wild cannibal natives, whowere ready enough to blow a poisoned dart at us if they saw a chance.There was digging and ditching and yam-planting, and a dozen otherthings to be done, so we were busy enough all day; though in the eveningwe had a little time to ourselves. Among other things, I learned todispense drugs for the surgeon, and picked up a smattering of hisknowledge. All the time I was on the lookout for a chance to escape; butit is hundreds of miles from any other land, and there is little or no windin those seas: so it was a terribly difficult job to get away."The surgeon, Dr. Somerton, was a fast, sporting young chap, and theother young officers would meet in his rooms of an evening and playcards. The surgery, where I used to make up my drugs, was next to hissitting-room, with a small window between us. Often, if I felt lonesome, Iused to turn out the lamp in the surgery, and then, standing there, I couldhear their talk and watch their play. I am fond of a hand at cards myself,and it was almost as good as having one to watch the others. There wasMajor Sholto, Captain Morstan, and Lieutenant Bromley Brown, whowere in command of the native troops, and there was the surgeon himself,and two or three prison-officials, crafty old hands who played a nice slysafe game. A very snug little party they used to make."Well, there was one thing which very soon struck me, and that was that the soldiers used always to lose and the civilians to win. Mind, Idon't say there was anything unfair, but so it was. These prison-chaps haddone little else than play cards ever since they had been at the Andamans,and they knew each other's [153] game to a point, while the others justplayed to pass the time and threw their cards down anyhow. Night afternight the soldiers got up poorer men, and the poorer they got the morekeen they were to play. Major Sholto was the hardest hit. He used to payin notes and gold at first, but soon it came to notes of hand and for bigsums. He sometimes would win for a few deals just to give him heart, andthen the luck would set in against him worse than ever. All day he wouldwander about as black as thunder, and he took to drinking a deal morethan was good for him."One night he lost even more heavily than usual. I was sitting in my hutwhen he and Captain Morstan came stumbling along on the way to theirquarters. They were bosom friends, those two, and never far apart. Themajor was raving about his losses."'It's all up, Morstan,' he was saying as they passed my hut. 'I shallhave to send in my papers. I am a ruined man.'"'Nonsense, old chap!' said the other, slapping him upon the shoulder.'I've had a nasty facer myself, but- -' That was all I could hear, but itwas enough to set me thinking."A couple of days later Major Sholto was strolling on the beach: so Itook the chance of speaking to him."'I wish to have your advice, Major,' said I."'Well, Small, what is it?' he asked, taking his cheroot from his lips."'I wanted to ask you, sir,' said I, 'who is the proper person to whomhidden treasure should be handed over. I know where half a million worthlies, and, as I cannot use it myself, I thought perhaps the best thing that Icould do would be to hand it over to the proper authorities, and thenperhaps they would get my sentence shortened for me.'"'Half a million, Small?' he gasped, looking hard at me to see if I wasin earnest."'Quite that, sir-in jewels and pearls. It lies there ready for anyone.And the queer thing about it is that the real owner is outlawed and cannothold property, so that it belongs to the first comer.'"'To government, Small,' he stammered, 'to government.' But he saidit in a halting fashion, and I knew in my heart that I had got him."'You think, then, sir, that I should give the information to thegovernor-general?' said I quietly."'Well, well, you must not do anything rash, or that you might repent.Let me hear all about it, Small. Give me the facts.'"I told him the whole story, with small changes, so that he could notidentify the places. When I had finished he stood stock still and full ofthought. I could see by the twitch of his lip that there was a struggle goingon within him."'This is a very important matter, Small,' he said at last. 'You must notsay a word to anyone about it, and I shall see you again soon.'"Two nights later he and his friend, Captain Morstan, came to my hutin the dead of the night with a lantern."'I want you just to let Captain Morstan hear that story from your ownlips, Small,' said he."I repeated it as I had told it before."'It rings true, eh?' said he. 'It's good enough to act upon?'"Captain Morstan nodded."'Look here, Small,' said the major. 'We have been talking it over, myfriend here and I, and we have come to the conclusion that this secret ofyours is hardly a [154] government matter, after all, but is a privateconcern of your own, which of course you have the power of disposing ofas you think best. Now the question is, What price would you ask for it?We might be inclined to take it up, and at least look into it, if we couldagree as to terms.' He tried to speak in a cool, careless way, but his eyeswere shining with excitement and greed."'Why, as to that, gentlemen,' I answered, trying also to be cool butfeeling as excited as he did, 'there is only one bargain which a man in myposition can make. I shall want you to help me to my freedom, and to helpmy three companions to theirs. We shall then take you into partnershipand give you a fifth share to divide between you.'"'Hum!' said he. 'A fifth share! That is not very tempting.'"'It would come to fifty thousand apiece,' said I."'But how can we gain your freedom? You know very well that youask an impossibility.'"'Nothing of the sort,' I answered. 'I have thought it all out to the lastdetail. The only bar to our escape is that we can get no boat fit for thevoyage, and no provisions to last us for so long a time. There are plenty oflittle yachts and yawls at Calcutta or Madras which would serve our turn well. Do you bring one over. We shall engage to get aboard her by night,and if you will drop us on any part of the Indian coast you will have doneyour part of the bargain.'"'If there were only one,' he said."'None or all,' I answered. 'We have sworn it. The four of us mustalways act together.'"'You see, Morstan,' said he, 'Small is a man of his word. He does notflinch from his friends. I think we may very well trust him.'"'It's a dirty business,' the other answered. 'Yet, as you say, the moneywill save our commissions handsomely.'"'Well, Small,' said the major, 'we must, I suppose, try and meet you.We must first, of course, test the truth of your story. Tell me where thebox is hid, and I shall get leave of absence and go back to India in themonthly relief-boat to inquire into the affair.'"'Not so fast,' said I, growing colder as he got hot. 'I must have theconsent of my three comrades. I tell you that it is four or none with us.'"'Nonsense!' he broke in. 'What have three black fellows to do withour agreement?'"'Black or blue,' said I, 'they are in with me, and we all go together.'"Well, the matter ended by a second meeting, at which MahometSingh, Abdullah Khan, and Dost Akbar were all present. We talked thematter over again, and at last we came to an arrangement. We were toprovide both the officers with charts of the part of the Agra fort, and markthe place in the wall where the treasure was hid. Major Sholto was to goto India to test our story. If he found the box he was to leave it there, tosend out a small yacht provisioned for a voyage, which was to lie offRutland Island, and to which we were to make our way, and finally toreturn to his duties. Captain Morstan was then to apply for leave ofabsence, to meet us at Agra, and there we were to have a final division ofthe treasure, he taking the major's share as well as his own. All this wesealed by the most solemn oaths that the mind could think or the lipsutter. I sat up all night with paper and ink, and by the morning I had thetwo charts all ready, signed with the sign of four-that is, of Abdullah,Akbar, Mahomet, and myself.[155] "Well, gentlemen, I weary you with my long story, and I knowthat my friend Mr. Jones is impatient to get me safely stowed in chokey.I'll make it as short as I can. The villain Sholto went off to India, but henever came back again. Captain Morstan showed me his name among alist of passengers in one of the mail-boats very shortly afterwards. Hisuncle had died, leaving him a fortune, and he had left the Army; yet hecould stoop to treat five men as he had treated us. Morstan went over toAgra shortly afterwards and found, as we expected, that the treasure wasindeed gone. The scoundrel had stolen it all without carrying out one ofthe conditions on which we had sold him the secret. From that I lived onlyfor vengeance. I thought of it by day and I nursed it by night. It becamean overpowering, absorbing passion with me. I cared nothing for thelaw-nothing for the gallows. To escape, to track down Sholto, to have myhand upon his throat-that was my one thought. Even the Agra treasurehad come to be a smaller thing in my mind than the slaying of Sholto. "Well, I have set my mind on many things in this life, and never onewhich I did not carry out. But it was weary years before my time came. Ihave told you that I had picked up something of medicine. One day whenDr. Somerton was down with a fever a little Andaman Islander waspicked up by a convict-gang in the woods. He was sick to death and hadgone to a lonely place to die. I took him in hand, though he was asvenomous as a young snake, and after a couple of months I got him allright and able to walk. He took a kind of fancy to me then, and wouldhardly go back to his woods, but was always hanging about my hut. Ilearned a little of his lingo from him, and this made him all the fonder ofme."Tonga-for that was his name-was a fine boatman and owned a big,roomy canoe of his own. When I found that he was devoted to me andwould do anything to serve me, I saw my chance of escape. I talked itover with him. He was to bring his boat round on a certain night to an oldwharf which was never guarded, and there he was to pick me up. I gavehim directions to have several gourds of water and a lot of yams,cocoanuts, and sweet potatoes."He was staunch and true, was little Tonga. No man ever had a morefaithful mate. At the night named he had his boat at the wharf. As itchanced, however, there was one of the convict-guard down there-a vilePathan who had never missed a chance of insulting and injuring me. I hadalways vowed vengeance, and now I had my chance. It was as if fate hadplaced him in my way that I might pay my debt before I left the island. Hestood on the bank with his back to me, and his carbine on his shoulder. Ilooked about for a stone to beat out his brains with, but none could I see."Then a queer thought came into my head and showed me where Icould lay my hand on a weapon. I sat down in the darkness andunstrapped my wooden leg. With three long hops I was on him. He puthis carbine to his shoulder, but I struck him full, and knocked the wholefront of his skull in. You can see the split in the wood now where I hithim. We both went down together, for I could not keep my balance; butwhen I got up I found him still lying quiet enough. I made for the boat,and in an hour we were well out at sea. Tonga had brought all his earthlypossessions with him, his arms and his gods. Among other things, he hada long bamboo spear, and some Andaman cocoanut matting, with which Imade a sort of a sail. For ten days we were beating about, trusting to luck,and on the eleventh we were picked up by a trader which was going fromSingapore to Jiddah with a cargo of Malay pilgrims. They were a rumcrowd, and Tonga and I soon [156] managed to settle down among them.They had one very good quality: they let you alone and asked noquestions."Well, if I were to tell you all the adventures that my little chum and Iwent through, you would not thank me, for I would have you here untilthe sun was shining. Here and there we drifted about the world,something always turning up to keep us from London. All the time,however, I never lost sight of my purpose. I would dream of Sholto atnight. A hundred times I have killed him in my sleep. At last, however,some three or four years ago, we found ourselves in England. I had nogreat difficulty in finding where Sholto lived, and I set to work todiscover whether he had realized on the treasure, or if he still had it. Imade friends with someone who could help me-I name no names, for Idon't want to get anyone else in a hole-and I soon found that he still hadthe jewels. Then I tried to get at him in many ways; but he was pretty slyand had always two prize-fighters, besides his sons and his khitmutgar, onguard over him."One day, however, I got word that he was dying. I hurried at once tothe garden, mad that he should slip out of my clutches like that, and,looking through the window, I saw him lying in his bed, with his sons oneach side of him. I'd have come through and taken my chance with thethree of them, only even as I looked at him his jaw dropped, and I knewthat he was gone. I got into his room that same night, though, and Isearched his papers to see if there was any record of where he had hiddenour jewels. There was not a line, however, so I came away, bitter andsavage as a man could be. Before I left I bethought me that if I ever metmy Sikh friends again it would be a satisfaction to know that I had leftsome mark of our hatred; so I scrawled down the sign of the four of us, asit had been on the chart, and I pinned it on his bosom. It was too muchthat he should be taken to the grave without some token from the menwhom he had robbed and befooled."We earned a living at this time by my exhibiting poor Tonga at fairsand other such places as the black cannibal. He would eat raw meat anddance his war-dance: so we always had a hatful of pennies after a day'swork. I still heard all the news from Pondicherry Lodge, and for someyears there was no news to hear, except that they were hunting for thetreasure. At last, however, came what we had waited for so long. Thetreasure had been found. It was up at the top of the house in Mr.Bartholomew Sholto's chemical laboratory. I came at once and had a lookat the place, but I could not see how, with my wooden leg, I was to makemy way up to it. I learned, however, about a trapdoor in the roof, and alsoabout Mr. Sholto's supper-hour. It seemed to me that I could manage thething easily through Tonga. I brought him out with me with a long ropewound round his waist. He could climb like a cat, and he soon made hisway through the roof, but, as ill luck would have it, Bartholomew Sholtowas still in the room, to his cost. Tonga thought he had done somethingvery clever in killing him, for when I came up by the rope I found himstrutting about as proud as a peacock. Very much surprised was he when Imade at him with the rope's end and cursed him for a little bloodthirstyimp. I took the treasure box and let it down, and then slid down myself,having first left the sign of the four upon the table to show that the jewelshad come back at last to those who had most right to them. Tonga thenpulled up the rope, closed the window, and made off the way that he hadcome."I don't know that I have anything else to tell you. I had heard awaterman speak of the speed of Smith's launch, the Aurora, so I thoughtshe would be a handy craft [157] for our escape. I engaged with old Smith,and was to give him a big sum if he got us safe to our ship. He knew, nodoubt, that there was some screw loose, but he was not in our secrets. Allthis is the truth, and if I tell it to you, gentlemen, it is not to amuseyou-for you have not done me a very good turn-but it is because I believethe best defence I can make is just to hold back nothing, but let all theworld know how badly I have myself been served by Major Sholto, andhow innocent I am of the death of his son.""A very remarkable account," said Sherlock Holmes. "A fitting windupto an extremely interesting case. There is nothing at all new to me in thelatter part of your narrative except that you brought your own rope. That Idid not know. By the way, I had hoped that Tonga had lost all his darts;yet he managed to shoot one at us in the boat.""He had lost them all, sir, except the one which was in his blow-pipe atthe time.""Ah, of course," said Holmes. "I had not thought of that.""Is there any other point which you would like to ask about?" asked theconvict affably."I think not, thank you," my companion answered."Well, Holmes," said Athelney Jones, "you are a man to be humoured,and we all know that you are a connoisseur of crime; but duty is duty, andI have gone rather far in doing what you and your friend asked me. I shallfeel more at ease when we have our story-teller here safe under lock and key. The cab still waits, and there are two inspectors downstairs. I ammuch obliged to you both for your assistance. Of course you will bewanted at the trial. Good-night to you.""Good-night, gentlemen both," said Jonathan Small."You first, Small," remarked the wary Jones as they left the room. "I'lltake particular care that you don't club me with your wooden leg,whatever you may have done to the gentleman at the Andaman Isles.""Well, and there is the end of our little drama," I remarked, after wehad sat some time smoking in silence. "I fear that it may be the lastinvestigation in which I shall have the chance of studying your methods.Miss Morstan has done me the honour to accept me as a husband inprospective."He gave a most dismal groan."I feared as much," said he. "I really cannot congratulate you."I was a little hurt."Have you any reason to be dissatisfied with my choice?" I asked."Not at all. I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I evermet and might have been most useful in such work as we have beendoing. She had a decided genius that way; witness the way in which shepreserved that Agra plan from all the other papers of her father. But loveis an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that truecold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself,lest I bias my judgment.""I trust," said I, laughing, "that my judgment may survive the ordeal.But you look weary.""Yes, the reaction is already upon me. I shall be as limp as a rag for aweek.""Strange," said I, "how terms of what in another man I should call laziness alternate with your fits of splendid energy and vigour.""Yes," he answered, "there are in me the makings of a very fine loafer,and also of a pretty spry sort of a fellow. I often think of those lines of oldGoethe:[158] "Schade, daß die Natur nur einen Mensch aus dir schuf,Denn zum würdigen Mann war und zum Schelmen der Stoff.By the way, apropos of this Norwood business, you see that they had, as Isurmised, a confederate in the house, who could be none other than LalRao, the butler: so Jones actually has the undivided honour of havingcaught one fish in his great haul.""The division seems rather unfair," I remarked. "You have done all thework in this business. I get a wife out of it, Jones gets the credit, praywhat remains for you?""For me," said Sherlock Holmes, "there still remains the cocainebottle." And he stretched his long white hand up for it.