"How the madman who assaulted me this evening found me out I know not.
I was not aware until this day that he had been tracking me, but,
judging from what he said, and from what I know about him, I now see
that he must have been doing so for some years. Here is the
explanation, and, let me add, it intimately concerns yourselves."
Mrs Tipps and Netta became more interested as Dr Noble proceeded.
"You must know," he said, "that when in India some years ago I made
several coasting voyages with a certain sea-captain as surgeon of his
ship, at periods when my health required recruiting. I received from
that gentleman every attention and kindness that the heart of a good man
could suggest. On one of these voyages we had a native prince on board.
He was voyaging, like myself, for the benefit of his health, but his
case was a bad one. He grew rapidly worse, and before the end of the
voyage he died. During his illness the captain nursed him as if he had
been his own child; all the more tenderly that he thought him to be one
of those unfortunate princes who, owing to political changes, had been
ruined, and had lost all his wealth along with his station. It was
quite touching, I assure you, madam, to listen to the earnest tones of
that captain's voice as he read passages from the Word of God to the
dying prince, and sought to convince him that Jesus Christ, who became
poor for our sakes, could bestow spiritual wealth that neither the
world, nor life, nor death could take away. The prince spoke very
little, but he listened most intently. Just before he died he sent a
sailor lad who attended on him, for the captain, and, taking a small box
from beneath his pillow, gave it to him, saying briefly,--`Here, take
it, you have been my best friend, I shall need it no more.'
"After he was dead the box was opened, and found to contain a most
superb set of diamonds--a necklace, brooch, ear-rings, bracelets, and a
ring, besides a quantity of gold pieces, the whole being worth several
thousands of pounds.
"As the prince had often said that all his kindred were dead, the
captain had no conscientious scruples in retaining the gift. He locked
it away in his cabin. When the voyage was finished--at Calcutta--the
men were paid off. The captain then be-thought him of placing his
treasure in some place of security in the city. He went to his chest
and took out the box--it was light--he opened it hastily--the contents
were gone! Nothing was left to him of that splendid gift save the ring,
which he had placed on his finger soon after receiving it, and had worn
ever since.
"From some circumstances that recurred to our memories, we both
suspected the young man who had been in attendance on the prince, but,
although we caused the most diligent search to be made, we failed to
find him. My friend and I parted soon after. I was sent up to the
hills, and never saw or heard of him again.
"Several years after that I happened to be residing in Calcutta, and was
called one night to see the wife of an Englishman who was thought to be
dying. I found her very ill--near her end. She seemed to be anxious to
communicate something to me, but appeared to be afraid of her husband.
I thought, on looking at him attentively, that I had seen him before,
and said so. He seemed to be annoyed, and denied ever having met with
me. I treated the matter lightly, but took occasion to send him out for
some physic, and, while he was away, encouraged the woman to unburden
her mind. She was not slow to do so. `Oh, sir,' she said, `I want to
communicate a secret, but dared not while my husband was by. Long ago,
before I knew him, my husband stole a box of diamonds from a Captain
Tipps--'"
"My husband!" exclaimed the widow.
"You shall hear," said Dr Noble. "`I often heard him tell the story,
and boast of it,' continued the sick woman, quietly, `and I resolved to
obtain possession of the box, and have it returned, if possible, to the
rightful owner. So I carried out my purpose--no matter how--and led him
to suppose that the treasure had been stolen; but I have often fancied
he did not believe me. This Captain Tipps was a friend of yours, sir.
I know it, because my husband has told me. He remembers you, although
you don't remember him. I wish you to return the box to Captain Tipps,
sir, if he is yet alive. It lies--' here she drew me close to her, and
whispered in my ear the exact spot, under a tree, where the jewels were
hid.
"`You'll be sure to remember the place?' she asked, anxiously.
"`Remember what place?' demanded her husband, sternly, as he returned
with the medicine.
"No answer was given. The woman fell back on hearing his voice, but,
although she lived for nearly an hour, never spoke again.
"The man turned on me, and asked again what place she had been speaking
of. I said that it was idle to repeat what might prove to be only the
ravings of a dying woman. He seized a bludgeon, and, raising it in a
threatening manner, said, `I know you, Dr Noble; you shall tell me what
I want to know, else you shall not quit this room alive.'
"`I know you, too, Thomson,' said I, drawing a small sword from a stick
which I always carried. `If you proceed to violence, it remains to be
seen who shall quit this room alive.'
"I opened the door and walked quietly out, leaving him glaring like a
tiger after me.
"Going to the place described, I found the diamonds; and from that day
to this I have not ceased to try to discover my old friend, but have not
yet succeeded. Knowing that he might be dead, I have made inquiry of
every one possessing your name, Mrs Tipps, in the hope of discovering
his widow or children; and, although your name _is_ an uncommon one,
madam, you would be surprised if you knew how many I have ferreted out
in the course of years. Unfortunately, my friend never mentioned his
family, or the place of his residence in England, so I have had no clue
to guide me save one. I have even found two widows of the name of Tipps
besides yourself, and one of these said that her husband was a sailor
captain, but her description of him was not that of my friend. The
other said her husband had been a lawyer, so of course _he_ could not be
the man of whom I was in search."
"But, sir," said Mrs Tipps, in some perplexity, "if you are to depend
on description, I fear that you will never attain your end, for every
one knows that descriptions given of the same person by different people
never quite agree."
"That is true, madam; and the description given to me this evening of
your late husband is a case in point; for, although it agrees in many
things--in most things--there is some discrepancy. Did your husband
never give you the slightest hint about a set of diamonds that he had
once lost?"
"Never; but I can account for that by the fact, that he never alluded to
anything that had at any time given him pain or displeasure, if he could
avoid it."
"There is but the one clue, then, that I spoke of, namely, the ring that
belonged to the set of diamonds. Did your husband ever possess--"
"The ring!" exclaimed Mrs Tipps and Netta in the same breath. "Yes, he
had a diamond ring--"
They stopped abruptly, and looked at each other in distress, for they
remembered that the ring had been lost.
"Pray, what sort of ring is it? Describe it to me," said Dr Noble.
Netta carefully described it and, as she did so, the visitor's
countenance brightened.
"That's it; that's it exactly; that _must_ be it for I remember it well,
and it corresponds in all respects with--my dear ladies, let me see the
ring without delay."
"Alas! sir," said Mrs Tipps, sadly, "the ring is lost!"
A look of blank dismay clouded poor Dr Noble's visage as he heard these
words, but he quickly questioned the ladies as to the loss, and became
more hopeful on bearing the details.
"Come," he said at last, as he rose to take leave, "things don't look
quite so bad as they did at first. From all I have heard I am convinced
that my friend's widow and daughter are before me--a sight of the ring
would put the question beyond all doubt. We must therefore set to work
at once and bend all our energies to the one great point of recovering
the lost ring."