"Hide myself," said he; "and for what? Because I have shot a man who struck me in the face? Bah, I would do the same for him to-morrow, and for his friends too!"
I was not going to trouble myself to argue with him; and truth to tell, there did not appear to be any thing to fear. The platform of the station Mas deserted, save for a pompous-looking man in a gold-braided hat. Outside there were only a couple of old women selling tea, and a bit of a youth skylarking with them. I left my man in perfect confidence while I went to get the tickets; and when I returned to the waiting-room, he was still sitting on the seat where I had left him. It was only when I came quite close to him that I saw how queer his eyes looked, and how stiff his attitude was.
"Halloa!" said I; and as I said it, I noticed that blood was running down his shirt, "what's the matter now?"
But he did not answer me. He was dead, with a dagger through his heart. There was no longer a boy skylarking with the women outside the station.
CHAPTER XXI
I GO TO AMERICA
It was exactly one month after I had left the body of Count Fédor Uspensky in the hands of the local authorities at Malo that I received a letter from Sir Nicolas Steele—the last I ever had from him. I was then in Paris, whither I had gone direct, as he had told me; and I learned there, for the first time, that he was about to marry the daughter of Field-marshal Pouzatòv, and to settle down for good. At the same time he enclosed me a draft for a thousand pounds, and hinted that henceforth we would do well, perhaps, to take different roads through life.
"You have been a good man to me," said he in that letter, "and it goes to my heart to think that this is the end of it all. Whatever comes, I shall never forget the years in which you have been my servant and my friend. But I know your whims, and that such a life as I now propose to lead would not be the life for you. Accept the enclosed draft as a small token of a great gratitude, and be assured that wherever you are, or whatever you may do, my help will be there for you as you need it."
A fortnight after I received this letter, I was on board a ship bound for America. It was not until many months later that I heard the name of the man who struck down Fédor Uspensky. That name I don't intend to disclose; but this I may say, that the boy I saw skylarking outside the station at Malo was a subaltern in General Strolitzoff's regiment. And how did he know that the count would be at Malo, you ask? Why, Sir Nicolas Steele sent a messenger to tell him, of course.
THE END
THE DIAMOND SHIP
Table of Contents
Chapter I. The Preface of Timothy McShanus, Journalist.
Chapter II. In which Harriet Fabos Tells of Her Brother’s Return to Deepdene Hall in Suffolk.
Chapter III. In which Harriet Fabos Continues Her Narrative.
Chapter IV. Ean Fabos Begins His Story.
Chapter V. The Man with the Three Fingers.
Chapter VI. A Challenge from a Woman.
Chapter VII. My Friend McShanus.
Chapter VIII. We Visit Africa.
Chapter IX. The Night is Not Silent.
Chapter X. The Vision of the Ship.
Chapter XIII. The Cave in the Mountain.
Chapter XIV. Valentine Imroth.
Chapter XVII. The Nine Days of Silence.
Chapter XVIII. Down to the Sea.
Chapter XXI. A Pillar of Light.
Chapter XXII. The Crimson Rocket.
Chapter XXIII. We Defy the Rogues.
Chapter XXV. The Thrasher and the Whale.
Chapter XXVI. Seven Days Later.
Chapter XXVII. Dr. Fabos Boards the Diamond Ship.
Chapter XXVIII. The Strong Room of the Ocean.
Chapter XXIX. The Bridge and Afterwards.
Chapter XXX. Joan Tells Her Story.
Chapter XXXI. The End of the Diamond Ship.
Chapter XXXII. We Hear of the Jew Again.
Chapter XXXIII. The Master Card.