THE NARRATIVE OF SERGEANT NICHOLAS.
One morning when Janet had been about three weeks at Deepley Walls, she
was summoned to the door by one of the servants, and found there a tall,
thin, middle-aged man, dressed in plain clothes, and having all the
appearance of a discharged soldier.
"I have come a long way, miss," he said to Janet, carrying a finger to
his forehead, "in order to see Lady Chillington and have a little
private talk with her."
"I am afraid that her ladyship will scarcely see you, unless you can
give her some idea of the business that you have called upon."
"My name, miss, is Sergeant John Nicholas. I served formerly in India,
where I was body-servant to her ladyship's son, Captain Charles
Chillington, who died there of cholera nearly twenty years ago, and I
have something of importance to communicate."
Janet made the old soldier come in and sit down in the hall while she
took his message to Lady Chillington. Her ladyship was not yet up, but
was taking her chocolate in bed, with a faded Indian shawl thrown round
her shoulders. She began to tremble violently the moment Janet delivered
the old soldier's message, and could scarcely set down her cup and
saucer. Then she began to cry, and to kiss the hem of the Indian shawl.
Janet went softly out of the room and waited. She had never even heard
of this Captain Charles Chillington, and yet no mere empty name could
have thus affected the stern mistress of Deepley Walls. Those few tears
opened up quite a new view of Lady Chillington's character. Janet began
to see that there might be elements of tragedy in the old woman's life
of which she knew nothing: that many of the moods which seemed to her so
strange and inexplicable might be so merely for want of the key by which
alone they could be rightly read.
Presently her ladyship's gong sounded. Janet went back into the room,
and found her still sitting up in bed, sipping her chocolate with a
steady hand. All traces of tears had vanished: she looked even more
stern and repressed than usual.
"Request the person of whom you spoke to me a while ago to wait," she
said. "I will see him at eleven in my private sitting-room."
So Sergeant Nicholas was sent to get his breakfast in the servants'
room, and wait till Lady Chillington was ready to receive him.
At eleven precisely he was summoned to her ladyship's presence. She
received him with stately graciousness, and waved him to a chair a yard
or two away. She was dressed for the day in one of her stiff brocaded
silks, and sat as upright as a dart, manipulating a small fan. Miss Hope
stood close at the back of her chair.
"So, my good man, I understand that you were acquainted with my son, the
late Captain Chillington, who died in India twenty years ago?"
"I was his body-servant for two years previous to his death."
"Were you with him when he died?"
"I was, your ladyship. These fingers closed his eyes."
The hand that held the fan began to tremble again. She remained silent
for a few moments, and by a strong effort overmastered her agitation.
"You have some communication which you wish to make to me respecting my
dead son?"
"I have, your ladyship. A communication of a very singular kind."
"Why has it not been made before now?"
"That your ladyship will learn in the course of what I have to say. But
perhaps you will kindly allow me to tell my story my own way."
"By all means. Pray begin: I am all attention."
The Sergeant touched his forelock, gave a preliminary cough, fixed his
clear grey eye on Lady Chillington, and began his narrative as under:--
"Your ladyship and miss: I, John Nicholas, a Staffordshire man born and
bred, went out to India twenty-three years ago as lance corporal in the
hundred-and-first regiment of foot. After I had been in India a few
months, I got drunk and misbehaved myself, and was reduced to the ranks.
Well, ma'am, Captain Chillington took a fancy to me, thought I was not
such a bad dog after all, and got me appointed as his servant. And a
better master no man need ever wish to have--kind, generous, and a
perfect gentleman from top to toe. I loved him, and would have gone
through fire and water to serve him."
Her ladyship's fan was trembling again. "Oblige me with my salts, Miss
Hope," she said. She pressed them to her nose, and motioned to the
Sergeant to proceed.
"When I had been with the Captain a few months," resumed the old
soldier, "he got leave of absence for several weeks, and everybody knew
that it was his intention to spend his holiday in a shooting excursion
among the hills. I was to go with him, of course, and the usual troop of
native servants; but besides himself there was only one European
gentleman in the party, and he was not an Englishman. He was a Russian,
and his name was Platzoff. He was a gentleman of fortune, and was
travelling in India at the time, and had come to my master with letters
of introduction. Well, Captain Chillington just took wonderfully to him,
and the two were almost inseparable. Perhaps it hardly becomes one like
me to offer an opinion on such a point; but, knowing what afterwards
happened, I must say that I never either liked or trusted that Russian
from the day I first set eyes on him. He seemed to me too double-faced
and cunning for an honest English gentleman to have much to do with. But
he had travelled a great deal, and was very good company, which was
perhaps the reason why Captain Chillington took so kindly to him. Be
that as it may, however, it was decided that they should go on the
hunting excursion together--not that the Russian was much of a shot, or
cared a great deal about hunting, but because, as I heard him say, he
liked to see all kinds of life, and tiger-stalking was something quite
fresh to him.
"He was a curious-looking gentleman, too, that Russian--just the sort of
face that you would never forget after once seeing it, with skin that
was dried and yellow like parchment; black hair that was trained into a
heavy curl on the top of his forehead, and a big hooked nose.
"Well, your ladyship and miss, away we went with our elephants and train
of servants, and very pleasantly we spent our two months' leave of
absence. The Captain he shot tigers, and the Russian he did his best at
pig-sticking. Our last week had come, and in three more days we were to
set off on our return, when that terrible misfortune happened which
deprived me of the best of masters, and your ladyship of the best of
sons.
"Early one morning I was roused by Rung Budruck, the Captain's favourite
sycee or groom. 'Get up at once,' he said, shaking me by the shoulder.
'The sahib Captain is very ill. The black devil has seized him. He must
have opium or he will die.' I ran at once to the Captain's tent, and as
soon as I set eyes on him I saw that he had been seized with cholera. I
went off at once and fetched M. Platzoff. We had nothing in the way of
medicine with us except brandy and opium. Under the Russian's directions
these were given to my poor master in large quantities, but he grew
gradually worse. Rung and I in everything obeyed M. Platzoff, who seemed
to know quite well what ought to be done in such cases; and to tell the
truth, your ladyship, he seemed as much put about as if the Captain had
been his own brother. Well, the Captain grew weaker as the day went on,
and towards evening it grew quite clear that he could not last much
longer. The pain had left him by this time, but he was so frightfully
reduced that we could not bring him round. He was lying in every respect
like one already dead, except for his faint breathing, when the Russian
left the tent for a moment, and I took his place at the head of the bed.
Rung was standing with folded arms a yard or two away. None of the other
native servants could be persuaded to enter the tent, so frightened were
they of catching the complaint. Suddenly my poor master opened his eyes,
and his lips moved. I put my ear to his mouth. 'The diamond,' he
whispered. 'Take it--mother--give my love.' Not a word more on earth,
your ladyship. His limbs stiffened; his head fell back; he gave a great
sigh and died. I gently closed the eyes that could see no more, and left
the tent crying.
"Your ladyship, we buried Captain Chillington by torchlight four hours
later. We dug his grave deep in a corner of the jungle, and there we
left him to his last sleep. Over his grave we piled a heap of stones, as
I have read that they used to do in the old times over the grave of a
chief. It was all we could do.
"About an hour later M. Platzoff came to me. 'I shall start before
daybreak for Chinapore,' he said, 'with one elephant and a couple of
men. I will take with me the news of my poor friend's untimely fate,
and you can come on with the luggage and other effects in the ordinary
way. You will find me at Chinapore when you reach there.' Next morning I
found that he was gone.
"What my dear master had said with his last breath about a diamond
puzzled me. I could only conclude that amongst his effects there must be
some valuable stone of which he wished special care to be taken, and
which he desired to be sent home to you, madam, in England. I knew
nothing of any such stone, and I considered it beyond my position to
search for it among his luggage. I decided that when I got to Chinapore
I would give his message to the Colonel, and leave that gentleman to
take such steps in the matter as he might think best.
"I had hardly settled all this in my mind when Rung Budruck came to me.
'The Russian sahib has gone: I have something to tell you,' he said,
only he spoke in broken English. 'Yesterday, just after the sahib
Captain was dead, the Russian came back. You had left the tent, and I
was sitting on the ground behind the Captain's big trunk, the lid of
which was open. I was sitting with my chin in my hand, very sad at
heart, when the Russian came in. He looked carefully round the tent. Me
he could not see, but I could see him through the opening between the
hinges of the box. What did he do? He unfastened the bosom of the sahib
Captain's shirt, and then he drew over the Captain's head the steel
chain with the little gold box hanging to it that he always wore. He
opened the box, and saw there was that in it which he expected to find
there. Then he hid away both chain and box in one of his pockets,
rebuttoned the dead man's shirt, and left the tent.' 'But you have not
told me what there was in the box,' I said. He put the tips of his
fingers together and smiled: 'In that box was the Great Hara Diamond!'
"Your ladyship, I was so startled when Rung said this that the wind of a
bullet would have knocked me down. A new light was all at once thrown on
the Captain's dying words. 'But how do you know, Rung, that the box
contained a diamond?' I asked when I had partly got over my surprise. He
smiled again, with that strange slow smile which those fellows have. 'It
matters not how, but Rung knew that the diamond was there. He had seen
the Captain open the box, and take it out and look at it many a time
when the Captain thought no one could see him. He could have stolen it
from him almost any night when he was asleep, but that was left for his
friend to do.' 'Was the diamond you speak of a very valuable one?' I
asked. 'It was a green diamond of immense value,' answered Rung; 'it was
called _The Great Hara_ because of its colour, and it was first worn by
the terrible Aureng-Zebe himself, who had it set in the haft of his
scimitar.' 'But by what means did Captain Chillington become possessed
of so valuable a stone?' Said he, 'Two years ago, at the risk of his own
life, he rescued the eldest son of the Rajah of Gondulpootra from a
tiger who had carried away the child into the jungle. The Rajah is one
of the richest men in India, and he showed his gratitude by secretly
presenting the Great Hara Diamond to the man who had saved the life of
his child.' 'But why should Captain Chillington carry so valuable a
stone about his person?' I asked. 'Would it not have been wiser to
deposit it in the bank at Bombay till such time as the Captain could
take it with him to England?' 'The stone is a charmed stone,' said Rung,
'and it was the Rajah's particular wish that the sahib Chillington
should always wear it about his person. So long as he did so he could
not come to his death by fire by water, or by sword thrust.' Said I,
'But how did the Russian know that Captain Chillington carried the
diamond about his person?' 'One night when the Captain had had too much
wine he showed the diamond to his friend,' answered Rung. Said I, 'But
how does it happen, Rung, that you know this?' Rung, smiling and putting
his finger tips together, replied, 'How does it happen that I know so
much about you?' And then he told me a lot of things about myself that I
thought no soul in India knew. It was just wonderful how he did it. 'So
it is: let that be sufficient,' he finished by saying. 'Why did you not
tell me till after the Russian had gone away that you saw him steal the
diamond?' said I. 'If you had told me at the time I could have charged
him with it.' 'You are ignorant,' said Rung; 'you are little more than a
child. The Russian sahib had the evil eye. Had I crossed his purpose
before his face he would have cursed me while he looked at me, and I
should have withered away and died. He has got the diamond, and only by
magic can it ever be recovered from him.'
"Your ladyship and miss, I hope I am not tedious nor wandering from the
point. It will be sufficient to say that when I got down to Chinapore I
found that M. Platzoff had indeed been there, but only just long enough
to see the Colonel and give him an account of Captain Chillington's
death, after which he had at once engaged a palanquin and bearers and
set out with all speed for Bombay. It was now my turn to see the
Colonel, and after I had given over into his hands all my dead master's
property that I had brought with me from the Hills, I told him the story
of the diamond as Rung had told it to me. He was much struck by it, and
ordered me to take Rung to him the next morning. But that very night
Rung disappeared, and was never seen in the camp again. Whether he was
frightened at what he called the Russian's evil eye--frightened that
Platzoff could blight him even from a distance, I have no means of
knowing. In any case, gone he was; and from that day to this I have
never set eyes on him. Well, the Colonel said he would take a note of
what I had told him about the diamond, and that I must leave the matter
entirely in his hands.
"Your ladyship, a fortnight after that the Colonel shot himself.
"To make short a long story--we got a fresh Colonel, and were removed to
another part of the country; and there, a few weeks later, I was
knocked down by fever, and was a long time before I thoroughly recovered
my strength. A year or two later our regiment was ordered back to
England, but a day or two before we should have sailed I had a letter
telling me that my old sweetheart was dead. This news seemed to take all
care for life out of me, and on the spur of the moment I volunteered
into a regiment bound for China, in which country war was just breaking
out. There, and at other places abroad, I stopped till just four months
ago, when I was finally discharged, with my pension, and a bullet in my
pocket that had been taken out of my skull. I only landed in England
nine days ago, and as soon as it was possible for me to do so, I came to
see your ladyship. And I think that is all." The Sergeant's forefinger
went to his forehead again as he brought his narrative to an end.
Lady Chillington kept on fanning herself in silence for a little while
after the old soldier had done speaking. Her features wore the proud,
impassive look that they generally put on when before strangers: in the
present case they were no index to the feelings at work underneath. At
length she spoke.
"After the suicide of your Colonel did you mention the supposed robbery
of the diamond to anyone else?"
"To no one else, your ladyship. For several reasons. I was unaware what
steps he might have taken between the time of my telling him and the
time of his death to prove or disprove the truth of the story. In the
second place, Rung had disappeared. I could only tell the story at
secondhand. It had been told me by an eye-witness, but that witness was
a native, and the word of a native does not go for much in those parts.
In the third place, the Russian had also disappeared, and had left no
trace behind. What could I do? Had I told the story to my new Colonel, I
should mayhap only have been scouted as a liar or a madman. Besides, we
were every day expecting to be ordered home, and I had made up my mind
that I would at once come and see your ladyship. At that time I had no
intention of going to China, and when once I got there it was too late
to speak out. But through all the years I have been away my poor dear
master's last words have lived in my memory. Many a thousand times have
I thought of them both day and night, and prayed that I might live to
get back to Old England, if it was only to give your ladyship the
message with which I had been charged."
"But why could you not write to me?" asked Lady Chillington.
"Your ladyship, I am no scholar," answered the old soldier, with a vivid
blush. "What I have told you to-day in half-an-hour would have taken me
years to set down--in fact, I could never have done it."
"So be it," said Lady Chillington. "My obligation to you is all the
greater for bearing in mind for so many years my poor boy's last
message, and for being at so much trouble to deliver it." She sighed
deeply and rose from her chair. The Sergeant rose too, thinking that
his interview was at an end, but at her ladyship's request he reseated
himself.
Rejecting Janet's proffered arm, which she was in the habit of leaning
on in her perambulations about the house and grounds, Lady Chillington
walked slowly and painfully out of the room. Presently she returned,
carrying an open letter in her hand. Both the ink and the paper on which
it was written were faded and yellow with age.
"This is the last letter I ever received from my son," said her
ladyship. "I have preserved it religiously, and it bears out very
singularly what you, Sergeant, have just told me respecting the message
which my darling sent me with his dying breath. In a few lines at the
end he makes mention of a something of great value which he is going to
bring home with him; but he writes about it in such guarded terms that I
never could satisfy myself as to the precise meaning of what he intended
to convey. You, Miss Hope, will perhaps be good enough to read the lines
in question aloud. They are contained in a postscript."
Janet took the letter with reverent tenderness. Lady Chillington's
trembling fingers pointed out the lines she was to read. Janet read as
under:--
"P.S.--I have reserved my most important bit of news till the last,
as lady correspondents are said to do. Observe, I write 'are said
to do,' because in this matter I have very little personal
experience of my own to go upon. You, dear mum, are my solitary
lady correspondent, and postscripts are a luxury in which you
rarely indulge. But to proceed, as the novelists say. Some two
years ago it was my good fortune to rescue a little yellow-skinned
princekin from the clutches of a very fine young tiger (my feet are
on his hide at this present writing), who was carrying him off as a
tit-bit for his supper. He was terribly mauled, you may be sure,
but his people followed my advice in their mode of doctoring him,
and he gradually got round again. The lad's father is a Rajah,
immensely rich, and a direct descendant of that ancient Mogul
dynasty which once ruled this country with a rod of iron. The Rajah
has daughters innumerable, but only this one son. His gratitude for
what I had done was unbounded. A few weeks ago he gave me a most
astounding proof of it. By a secret and trusty messenger he sent
me--But no, dear mum, I will not tell you what the Rajah sent me.
This letter might chance to fall into other hands than yours
(Indian letters do _sometimes_ miscarry), and the secret is one
which had better be kept in the family--at least for the present.
So, mother mine, your curiosity must rest unsatisfied for a little
while to come. I hope to be with you before many months are over,
and then you shall know everything.
"The value of the Rajah's present is something immense. I shall
sell it when I get to England, and out of the proceeds I
shall--well, I don't exactly know what I shall do. Purchase my
next step for one thing, but that will cost a mere trifle. Then,
perhaps, buy a comfortable estate in the country, or a house in
Park Lane. Your six weeks every season in London lodgings was
always inexplicable to me.
"Or shall I not sell the Rajah's present, but offer myself in
marriage to some fair princess, with my heart in one hand and the
G.H.D. in the other? Madder things than that are recorded in
history. In any case, don't forget to pray for the safe arrival of
your son, and (if such a petition is allowable) that he may not
fail to bring with him the G.H.D.
"C.C."
"I never could understand before to-day what the letters G.H.D. were
meant for," said Lady Chillington, as Janet gave her back the letter.
"It is now quite evident that they were intended for _Great Hara
Diamond_; all of which, as I said before, is confirmatory of the story
you have just told me. Of course, after the lapse of so many years,
there is not the remotest possibility of recovering the diamond; but my
obligation to you, Sergeant Nicholas, is in no wise lessened by that
fact. What are your engagements? Are you obliged to leave here
immediately, or can you remain a short time in the neighbourhood?"
"I can give your ladyship a week, or even a fortnight, if you wish it."
"I am greatly obliged to you. I do wish it--I wish to talk to you
respecting my son, and you are the only one now living who can tell me
about him. You shall find that I am not ungrateful for what you have
done for me. In the meantime, you will stop at the King's Arms, in
Eastbury. Miss Hope will give you a note to the landlord. Come up here
to-morrow at eleven. And now I must say good-morning. I am not very
strong, and your news has shaken me a little. Will you do me the honour
of shaking hands with me? It was your hands that closed my poor boy's
eyes--that touched him last on earth; let those hands now be touched by
his mother."
Lady Chillington stood up and extended both her withered hands. The old
soldier came forward with a blush and took them respectfully, tenderly.
He bent his head and touched each of them in turn with his lips. Tears
stood in his eyes.
"God bless you, Sergeant Nicholas! You are a good man and a true
gentleman," said Lady Chillington. Then she turned and slowly left the
room.