Colonel Thorndyke's Secret

rbed mood. He was a man of forty three or four, stoutly and strongly built, and inclined to be portly. Save the loss of his wife four years before, there had been but little to r

ng he had generally gone down to the inn, where he talked over, with two or three of his own condition and a few of the better class of farmers, the news of the day, the war with the French, the troubles in Scotland, the alarming march of the Young Pretender, and his defeat at Culloden

or Squire Hamilton by highwaymen; the affray between the French smugglers and the Revenue men near Selsea B

went down to smoke his pipe at the inn parlor, but he gave up his visits to town; and cock fights, and even bull baiting, were no longer attractions to him. He was known as a good landlord to the three or four

nd. A messenger had ridden up two hours before

R BROTH

ught that it was going to be fatal; then I rallied, and for some months it seemed that, in spite of the 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 was a cough

girl down; I have left her in good hands, and I shall only bring with me my Hindoo servant. He will give you no trouble-a mat to sleep on, and a little rice to eat, will satisfy his wants; and he will take the trouble of me a good deal off your hands. He was a Sepoy in my regiment, and has always e

d this was his first home coming. Had it not been for a portrait that had been taken of him in his uniform just before he sailed, John would have had but little remembrance

pinion there was no persuading him to change it. He was always getting ideas such as no one else would think of; he did not care for anything that other people cared for; never hunted nor shot. He used to puzzle me altogether with his ways, and

made up my mind to go into the East India Service, father. I suppose you can get me a cadetship?' At least that was an honorable profession; and I knew, anyhow, that when he once said 'I have made u

having heard that he had been unmercifully beaten by the schoolmaster at Reigate for some trifling fault, he had gone down to the town, and had so battered the man that the school had to be closed fo

s; one gets rich out here fast, what with plunder and presents and one thing and another, and it is no use to have

declined

d a man who has been steward to Sir John Hieover, and looked after the estate during his son's minority. But the young blade, on coming of age, set to work to make ducks and drakes of the property, and Newman could not bear to see the estate going to the Jews, so, as luck would have it,

continued to manage it ever since, although George had wri

him to go at once to Leadenhall Street and send down a supply of Indian condiments for his brother's use, and had then betaken himself to the garden to think the matter over. The next day a post chaise arrived, bringing the invalid and his colored servant, wh

o grow up such a fine tall fellow? You are more fitted to be a soldier than I am. No, don't try to help me out;

you looking so ba

thirty years of marching and fighting, I have no

the house, and when the Hindoo had arranged the cushions of

d anything to do with them-contractors, boards of county magistrates, and the whole lot. If I had known what it was going to be like I would have hired a sedan chai

u first, George? I h

than lemons, John. Have

, pl

to Ramoo he will know

with a tray with a chick

ian things that you are accustomed to, G

en to scare the maids. I could see they looked at him as if he had been his infernal majesty, as he came in. He can do it anywhere; all he wants i

drunk a tumbler of Burgundy and water. "I am glad to be back, now I am here, though I dare say I should

away at

once, if you don't mind, John. I sha

voice was stronger and more cheery, and when he came down after b

if not longer. Her name is Millicent Conyers Thorndyke. I wish her to be called Millicent Conyers, and to appear as your ward, and not as your niece and heiress of the property. If there is one thing in the world I have a greater horror of than another, it is of a girl being married for her money

ng here and looking after the child's interest at Reigate, but I could not possibly take possession of the place as its

explained the matter to them, and given them the assignment, or whatever they call it, of the Reigate estate to you, until my daughter comes of age, appointing them her guardians should you die before that. Thus, you will be

singular proposal, and I own I would rath

s for the next thirteen years; so the only thing that I really want of you is to let the girl be called your ward instead of your niece, and that she and everyone else shall be in ignorance that she is an heiress. So far from doin

t it in every light. For myself, I have no wish at all to become master of our father's estate. I have been going in one groove for the last twenty years, and don

ease send Ramoo in to me; I h

ernoon his brother was so weak and tired that the subject of the conversation was not reverted to. A

has come of your t

like it

tomorrow, and I shall make a new will, leaving all my property to your son, subject to a life annuity of 200 pounds a year to the child, and ordering that, in the event of his dying before he comes of age, or of re

to be put on the marriage market, and marrying men old enough to be pretty nearly their grandfathers, with the natural consequence that there is the devil to pay before they have been married a year or two. Come, you know

it. Mind, I don't do it willin

d hand to his brother; "that is off my mind. Now, there is only one

ny than ordinary matters. He had indeed been very weak and ailing. After breakfast, when, as usu

are no hiding pla

! What do you

ould hide up and hear wh

ied, looking round vaguely. "Such an id

a hiding place, someone will be sure to be

t room, but it was closed up before my time, and turned

nto the next room and seeing

ded, John Thorndyke went into the next room, and

e feeling that everything I did was watched, and that everything I said was listened to for years; and I can tell you it is a devilishly unpleasant thought. Draw your chair quite close to me. It is about my jewels, John. I always had a fancy for jewels-not to wear them, but to own them. In my time I have had go

I am not much wide of the mark. That is all right, there is no bother about them; the trouble came from a diamond bracelet that I got from a soldier. We were in camp near Tanjore. I was officer of the day. I had made my rounds, and was coming back to my quarters, when I saw a soldier coming out of a tent thir

se to him; then he sprang up with a cry of fury, and leaped on me like a tiger. I was so taken by surprise that before I could use my sword the fellow had given me a nasty stab on t

t, sir?' th

I ran up just as he was, I think, rifling him for booty. He came at me like a wild cat, an

still; but I fancy there

o the hospital tent at once;

ital tent, telling him what had happened. He shook his head after

s, but there is no chanc

ll have a look at my wound, fo

right into you; but you see I expect he was springing as he struck, and the blow fell nearly perpendicularly, and it glanced down over your ribs, and m

speak to me. The doctor said he would not live long. I went across to him. He was on a bed some little distanc

ice, 'that you killed that fellow who gave me t

ness, my man,' I said. 'I wi

with some others into one of their great 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. I did not think so much of it at the time, but I kept on thinking of them afterwards, and it happened that some months after our visit we took the place by storm. I made straight for the temple, and I got the jewels. It don't matter how I got them-I got them. Well, since that I have never had any peace; pretty near every night one or other of our tents was turned topsy turvy, all the kits turned out, and even the ground dug up with knives. You know how silently Indian thieves can work. Ho

u killed last night had been watching me all the time, and thought that I had come out to hide the things. However, there they are, sir. One of my mates brought my musket here a quarter of an hour ago, and emptied the barrel out for me. Now, sir, you did your best to save my life last night, and you killed that fellow who did for me, and you pretty nearly got killed yourself. I have got no one else I could give the things

o give it u

ere sent up just before that fight, and my own regiment was not there: it might have been here, and

led might, of course, have one or two others with him, but I had to risk that. I got leave an hour later, and went down to Madras, and got them put into a place of safety. That I was watched all the time I was in India afterwards I have no doubt, but no attempts were ma

in a sedan chair I looked out suddenly, and each time there was a dark face somewhere in the street behind. I had a letter this morning from the lawyer, and he mentioned that two days ago his offices had been broken into, and every strong box and drawer forced open, but that, curiously enough, they could not find that anyt

ed round with an un

you mean

seen them go up into the air on a rope and never come down again, and for aught I know the

e the things to be

t down on a piece of paper, and slip it into your hand. As soon as you get out of the room you glance at it, and then put the piece of paper into your

er twelve years, George; they will have

rectly you get them into your hands, or go straight to Amsterdam and sell them there to one of the diamond cutters, who will turn them out so that they will be al

er leave them alone

everything alone, for all my gems are with them, and 52,000 pounds in gold. Of course, if you like you can, when you get the box, pick those diam

was seized with a violent fit of coughing, then a rush of blood poured fr

water, Ramoo," J

nificant glance; then he made several desperate efforts to speak, and tried to struggle up int

other handed it to him. He had no doubt that it contained the instructions as to the treasure. It was of Indian manufacture. He emptied the snuff from it, but it contained nothing else. He was conv

horndyke looked at it in bewilderment; that it was connected with the secret he felt certain, but alone it was absolutely useless. Doubtless his b

out it now." He went to an old fashioned cabinet, and placed the coin and piece of paper in a very cunningly devised secret drawer. The