have been upon the knife, and your body in the water. But the Sikh
knows the Englishman, and the Englishman 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, and
more still he has set by himself, for he is of a low nature and
hoards his gold rather than spend it. When the troubles broke out he
would be friends both with the lion and the tiger,--with the Sepoy
and with the Company's raj. Soon, however, it seemed to him that the
white men's day was come, for through all the land he could hear of
nothing but of their death and their overthrow. Yet, being a careful
man, he made such plans that, 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 his palace, but the most precious stones
and the choicest pearls that he had he put in an iron box, and sent
it by a trusty servant who, under the guise of a merchant, should
take it to the fort at Agra, there to lie until the land is at peace.
Thus, if the rebels won he would have his money, but if the Company
conquered his jewels would be saved to him. Having thus divided his
hoard, he threw himself into the cause of the Sepoys, since they were
strong upon his borders. By doing this, mark you, Sahib, his property
becomes the due of those who have been true to their salt.
"'This pretended merchant, who travels under the name of Achmet, is
now in the city of Agra, and desires to gain his way into the fort.
He has with him as travelling-companion my foster-brother Dost Akbar,
who knows his secret. Dost Akbar has promised this night to lead him
to a side-postern of the fort, and has chosen this one for his
purpose. Here he will come presently, and here he will find Mahomet
Singh and myself awaiting him. The place is lonely, and none shall
know of his coming. The world shall know of the merchant Achmet no
more, but the great treasure 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 you have been used to meeting death at every turn.
Whether Achmet the merchant lived or died was a thing as light as air
to me, but at the talk about the treasure my heart turned to it, and
I thought of what I might do in the old country with it, and how my
folk would stare when they saw their ne'er-do-well coming back with
his pockets full of gold moidores. I had, therefore, already made up
my mind. Abdullah Khan, however, thinking that I hesitated, pressed
the matter more closely.
"'Consider, Sahib,' said he, 'that if this man is taken by the
commandant he will be hung or shot, and his jewels taken by the
government, 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?
The jewels will be as well with us as in the Company's coffers. There
will be enough to make every one of us rich men and great chiefs. No
one can know about the matter, for here we are cut off from all men.
What could be 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
that we trust you, for your word, like ours, is not to be broken. We
have now only 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
share the watch with Mahomet Singh.'
"The rain was still falling steadily, for it was just the beginning
of the wet season. Brown, heavy clouds were drifting across the sky,
and it was hard to see more than a stone-cast. 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 Punjaubees waiting for the man who was coming to
his death.
"Suddenly my eye caught the glint of a shaded lantern at the other
side of the moat. It vanished among the mound-heaps, and then
appeared again coming slowly in our direction.
"'Here they are!' I exclaimed.
"'You will challenge him, Sahib, as usual,' whispered Abdullah. 'Give
him 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 may be sure that it is indeed the man.'
"The light had flickered onwards, now stopping and now advancing,
until I could see two dark figures upon the other side of the moat. I
let them scramble down the sloping bank, splash through the mire, and
climb half-way 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 flood
of light upon them. The first was an enormous Sikh, with a black
beard which swept nearly down to his cummerbund. Outside of a show I
have never seen so tall a man. The other was a little, fat, round
fellow, with a great yellow turban, and a bundle in his hand, done up
in a shawl. He seemed to be all in a quiver with fear, for his hands
twitched as if he had the ague, and his head kept turning to left and
right with two bright little twinkling eyes, like a mouse when he
ventures out from his hole. It gave me the chills to think of killing
him, but I thought of the treasure, and my heart set as hard as a
flint within me. When he saw my white face he gave a little chirrup
of joy and came running up towards me.
"'Your protection, Sahib,' he panted,--'your protection for the
unhappy merchant Achmet. I have travelled across Rajpootana that I
might seek the shelter of the fort at Agra. I have been robbed and
beaten and abused because I have been the friend of the Company. It
is a blessed night this 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 family
matters which are of no value to others, but which I should be sorry
to lose. Yet I am not a beggar; and I shall reward you, young Sahib,
and your governor also, if he will give me the shelter I ask.'
"I could not trust myself to speak longer with the man. The more I
looked at his fat, frightened face, the harder did it seem that we
should slay him in cold blood. It was best to get it over.
"'Take him to the main guard,' said I. The two Sikhs closed in upon
him on each side, and the giant walked behind, while they marched in
through the dark gate-way. Never was a man so compassed round with
death. I remained at the gate-way with the lantern.
"I could hear the measured tramp of their footsteps sounding through
the 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 rush of footsteps coming in my direction, with the loud
breathing of a running man. I turned my lantern down the long,
straight passage, and there was the 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 as that
little merchant. He was gaining on the Sikh, and I could see that if
he once passed me and got to the open air he would save himself yet.
My heart softened to him, but again the thought of his treasure
turned me hard and bitter. I cast my firelock between his legs as he
raced past, and he rolled twice over like a shot rabbit. Ere he could
stagger to his feet the Sikh was upon him, and buried his knife twice
in his side. The man never uttered moan nor moved muscle, but lay
were he had fallen. I think myself that he may have broken his neck
with the fall. You see, gentlemen, that I am keeping my promise. I am
telling you every work of the business just exactly as it happened,
whether it is in my favor or not."
He stopped, and held out his manacled hands for the whiskey-and-water
which Holmes had brewed for him. For myself, I confess that I had now
conceived the utmost horror of the man, not only for this
cold-blooded business in which he had been concerned, but even more
for the somewhat flippant and careless way in which he narrated it.
Whatever punishment was 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, deeply interested 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 voice and manner as he proceeded.
"It was all very bad, no doubt," said he. "I should like to know how
many fellows in my shoes would have refused a share of this loot when
they 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, the whole business would come to light, and I should
have been court-martialled and shot as likely as not; for people were
not very lenient at a time like that."
"Go on with your story," said Holmes, shortly.
"Well, we carried him in, Abdullah, Akbar, and I. A fine weight he
was, too, for all that he was so short. Mahomet Singh was left to
guard the door. We took him to a place which the Sikhs had already
prepared. It was some distance off, where a winding passage leads to
a great empty hall, the brick walls of which were all crumbling to
pieces. The earth floor had sunk in at one place, making a natural
grave, so we left Achmet the merchant there, having first covered him
over with loose bricks. This done, we all went back to the treasure.
"It lay where he had dropped it when he was first attacked. The box
was the same which now lies open upon your table. A key was hung by a
silken cord to that carved handle upon the top. We opened it, and the
light of the lantern gleamed upon a collection of gems such as I have
read of and thought about when I was a little lad at Pershore. It was
blinding to look upon them. When we had feasted our eyes we took them
all out and made a list of them. There were one hundred and
forty-three diamonds of the first water, including one which has been
called, I believe, 'the Great Mogul' and is said to be the second
largest stone in existence. Then there were ninety-seven very fine
emeralds, and one hundred and seventy rubies, some of which, however,
were small. There were forty carbuncles, two hundred and ten
sapphires, sixty-one agates, and a great quantity of beryls, onyxes,
cats'-eyes, turquoises, and other stones, the very names of which I
did not know at the time, though I have become more familiar with
them since. Besides this, there were nearly three hundred very fine
pearls, twelve of which were set in a gold coronet. By the way, these
last had 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 chest
and carried them to the gate-way to show them to Mahomet Singh. Then
we solemnly renewed our oath to stand by each other and be true to
our secret. We agreed to conceal our loot in a safe place until the
country should 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 were found upon us it would cause suspicion, and there was
no privacy in the fort 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 put our treasure. We made careful note of the
place, and next day I drew four plans, 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 none might take advantage.
That is an oath that I can put my hand to my heart and swear that I
have never broken.
"Well, there's no use my telling you gentlemen what came of the
Indian mutiny. After Wilson took Delhi and Sir Colin relieved Lucknow
the back of the business was broken. Fresh troops came pouring in,
and Nana Sahib made himself scarce over the frontier. A flying column
under Colonel Greathed came round to Agra and cleared the Pandies
away from it. Peace seemed to be settling upon the country, and we
four were beginning to hope that the time was at hand when we might
safely go off with our shares of the plunder. In a moment, however,
our hopes were shattered by our being arrested as the murderers of
Achmet.
"It came about in this way. When the rajah put his jewels into the
