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- Артур Конан Дойл
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- Стр. 18/91
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“
Early
in
1882
my
father
received
a
letter
from
India
which
was
a
great
shock
to
him
.
He
nearly
fainted
at
the
breakfast
-
table
when
he
opened
it
,
and
from
that
day
he
sickened
to
his
death
.
What
was
in
the
letter
we
could
never
discover
,
but
I
could
see
as
he
held
it
that
it
was
short
and
written
in
a
scrawling
hand
.
He
had
suffered
for
years
from
an
enlarged
spleen
,
but
he
now
became
rapidly
worse
,
and
towards
the
end
of
April
we
were
informed
that
he
was
beyond
all
hope
,
and
that
he
wished
to
make
a
last
communication
to
us
.
“
When
we
entered
his
room
he
was
propped
up
with
pillows
and
breathing
heavily
.
He
besought
us
to
lock
the
door
and
to
come
upon
either
side
of
the
bed
.
Then
,
grasping
our
hands
,
he
made
a
remarkable
statement
to
us
,
in
a
voice
which
was
broken
as
much
by
emotion
as
by
pain
.
I
shall
try
and
give
it
to
you
in
his
own
very
words
.
“
‘
I
have
only
one
thing
,
’
he
said
,
‘
which
weighs
upon
my
mind
at
this
supreme
moment
.
It
is
my
treatment
of
poor
Morstan
’
s
orphan
.
The
cursed
greed
which
has
been
my
besetting
sin
through
life
has
withheld
from
her
the
treasure
,
half
at
least
of
which
should
have
been
hers
.
And
yet
I
have
made
no
use
of
it
myself
,
—
so
blind
and
foolish
a
thing
is
avarice
.
The
mere
feeling
of
possession
has
been
so
dear
to
me
that
I
could
not
bear
to
share
it
with
another
.
See
that
chaplet
dipped
with
pearls
beside
the
quinine
-
bottle
.
Even
that
I
could
not
bear
to
part
with
,
although
I
had
got
it
out
with
the
design
of
sending
it
to
her
.
You
,
my
sons
,
will
give
her
a
fair
share
of
the
Agra
treasure
.
But
send
her
nothing
—
not
even
the
chaplet
—
until
I
am
gone
.
After
all
,
men
have
been
as
bad
as
this
and
have
recovered
.
“
‘
I
will
tell
you
how
Morstan
died
,
’
he
continued
.
‘
He
had
suffered
for
years
from
a
weak
heart
,
but
he
concealed
it
from
every
one
.
I
alone
knew
it
.
When
in
India
,
he
and
I
,
through
a
remarkable
chain
of
circumstances
,
came
into
possession
of
a
considerable
treasure
.
I
brought
it
over
to
England
,
and
on
the
night
of
Morstan
’
s
arrival
he
came
straight
over
here
to
claim
his
share
.
He
walked
over
from
the
station
,
and
was
admitted
by
my
faithful
old
Lal
Chowdar
,
who
is
now
dead
.
Morstan
and
I
had
a
difference
of
opinion
as
to
the
division
of
the
treasure
,
and
we
came
to
heated
words
.
Morstan
had
sprung
out
of
his
chair
in
a
paroxysm
of
anger
,
when
he
suddenly
pressed
his
hand
to
his
side
,
his
face
turned
a
dusky
hue
,
and
he
fell
backwards
,
cutting
his
head
against
the
corner
of
the
treasure
-
chest
.
When
I
stooped
over
him
I
found
,
to
my
horror
,
that
he
was
dead
.
“
‘
For
a
long
time
I
sat
half
distracted
,
wondering
what
I
should
do
.
My
first
impulse
was
,
of
course
,
to
call
for
assistance
;
but
I
could
not
but
recognise
that
there
was
every
chance
that
I
would
be
accused
of
his
murder
.
His
death
at
the
moment
of
a
quarrel
,
and
the
gash
in
his
head
,
would
be
black
against
me
.
Again
,
an
official
inquiry
could
not
be
made
without
bringing
out
some
facts
about
the
treasure
,
which
I
was
particularly
anxious
to
keep
secret
.
He
had
told
me
that
no
soul
upon
earth
knew
where
he
had
gone
.
There
seemed
to
be
no
necessity
why
any
soul
ever
should
know
.
“
‘
I
was
still
pondering
over
the
matter
,
when
,
looking
up
,
I
saw
my
servant
,
Lal
Chowdar
,
in
the
doorway
.
He
stole
in
and
bolted
the
door
behind
him
.
“
Do
not
fear
,
Sahib
,
”
he
said
.
“
No
one
need
know
that
you
have
killed
him
.
Let
us
hide
him
away
,
and
who
is
the
wiser
?
”
“
I
did
not
kill
him
,
”
said
I
.
Lal
Chowdar
shook
his
head
and
smiled
.
“
I
heard
it
all
,
Sahib
,
”
said
he
.
“
I
heard
you
quarrel
,
and
I
heard
the
blow
.
But
my
lips
are
sealed
.
All
are
asleep
in
the
house
.
Let
us
put
him
away
together
.
”
That
was
enough
to
decide
me
.
If
my
own
servant
could
not
believe
my
innocence
,
how
could
I
hope
to
make
it
good
before
twelve
foolish
tradesmen
in
a
jury
-
box
?
Lal
Chowdar
and
I
disposed
of
the
body
that
night
,
and
within
a
few
days
the
London
papers
were
full
of
the
mysterious
disappearance
of
Captain
Morstan
.
You
will
see
from
what
I
say
that
I
can
hardly
be
blamed
in
the
matter
.
My
fault
lies
in
the
fact
that
we
concealed
not
only
the
body
,
but
also
the
treasure
,
and
that
I
have
clung
to
Morstan
’
s
share
as
well
as
to
my
own
.
I
wish
you
,
therefore
,
to
make
restitution
.
Put
your
ears
down
to
my
mouth
.
The
treasure
is
hidden
in
—
’
“
At
this
instant
a
horrible
change
came
over
his
expression
;
his
eyes
stared
wildly
,
his
jaw
dropped
,
and
he
yelled
,
in
a
voice
which
I
can
never
forget
,
‘
Keep
him
out
!
For
Christ
’
s
sake
keep
him
out
!
’
We
both
stared
round
at
the
window
behind
us
upon
which
his
gaze
was
fixed
.
A
face
was
looking
in
at
us
out
of
the
darkness
.
We
could
see
the
whitening
of
the
nose
where
it
was
pressed
against
the
glass
.
It
was
a
bearded
,
hairy
face
,
with
wild
cruel
eyes
and
an
expression
of
concentrated
malevolence
.
My
brother
and
I
rushed
towards
the
window
,
but
the
man
was
gone
.
When
we
returned
to
my
father
his
head
had
dropped
and
his
pulse
had
ceased
to
beat
.
