“ ‘I wanted to ask you， sir，’ said I， ‘who is the proper personto whom hidden treasure should be handed over. I know wherehalf a million worth lies， and， as I cannot use it myself， I thoughtperhaps the best thing that I could do would be to hand it overto the proper authorities， and then perhaps they would get mysentence shortened for me.’
“ ‘Half a million， Small？’ he gasped， looking hard at me to see ifI was in earnest.
“ ‘Quite that， sir—in jewels and pearls. It lies there ready foranyone. And the queer thing about it is that the real owner isoutlawed and cannot hold property， so that it belongs to the firstcomer.’
“ ‘To government， Small，’ he stammered， ‘to government.’ Buthe said it in a halting fashion， and I knew in my heart that I hadgot him.
“ ‘You think， then， sir， that I should give the information to theGovernor-General？’ said I quietly.
“ ‘Well， well， you must not do anything rash， or that you mightrepent. Let me hear all about it， Small. Give me the facts.’
“I told him the whole story， with small changes， so that he couldnot identify the places. When I had finished he stood stock stilland full of thought. I could see by the twitch of his lip that therewas a struggle going on within him.
“ ‘This is a very important matter， Small，’ he said at last. ‘Youmust not say a word to anyone about it， and I shall see you againsoon.’
“Two nights later he and his friend， Captain Morstan， came tomy hut in the dead of the night with a lantern.
“ ‘I want you just to let Captain Morstan hear that story fromyour own lips， Small，’ said he.
“I repeated it as I had told it before.
“ ‘It rings true， eh？’ said he. ‘It’s good enough to act upon？’
“Captain Morstan nodded.
“ ‘Look here， Small，’ said the major. ‘We have been talking itover， my friend here and I， and we have come to the conclusionthat this secret of yours is hardly a government matter， after all，but is a private concern of your own， which of course you have thepower of disposing of as you think best. Now the question is， whatprice would you ask for it？ We might be inclined to take it up，and at least look into it， if we could agree as to terms.’ He triedto speak in a cool， careless way， but his eyes were shining withexcitement and greed.
“ ‘Why， as to that， gentlemen，’ I answered， trying also to be coolbut feeling as excited as he did， ‘there is only one bargain whicha man in my position can make. I shall want you to help me tomy freedom， and to help my three companions to theirs. We shallthen take you into partnership and give you a fifth share to dividebetween you.’
“ ‘Hum！’ said he. ‘A fifth share！ That is not very tempting.’
“ ‘It would come to fifty thousand apiece，’ said I.
“ ‘But how can we gain your freedom？ You know very well thatyou ask an impossibility.’
“ ‘Nothing of the sort，’ I answered. ‘I have thought it all out tothe last detail. The only bar to our escape is that we can get noboat fit for the voyage， and no provisions to last us for so long atime. There are plenty of little yachts and yawls at Calcutta orMadras which would serve our turn well. Do you bring one over.
We shall engage to get aboard her by night， and if you will drop uson any part of the Indian coast you will have done your part of thebargain.’
“ ‘If there were only one，’ he said.
“ ‘None or all，’ I answered. ‘We have sworn it. The four of usmust always act together.’
“ ‘You see， Morstan，’ said he， ‘Small is a man of his word. Hedoes not flinch from his friend. I think we may very well trusthim.’
“ ‘It’s a dirty business，’ the other answered. ‘Yet， as you say， themoney will save our commissions handsomely.’
“ ‘Well， Small，’ said the major， ‘we must， I suppose， try and meetyou. We must first， of course， test the truth of your story. Tell mewhere the box is hid， and I shall get leave of absence and go backto India in the monthly relief-boat to inquire into the affair.’
“ ‘Not so fast，’ said I， growing colder as he got hot. ‘I must havethe consent of my three comrades. I tell you that it is four or nonewith us.’
“ ‘Nonsense！’ he broke in. ‘What have three black fellows to dowith our agreement？’
“ ‘Black or blue，’ said I， ‘they are in with me， and we all go together.’
“Well， the matter ended by a second meeting， at whichMahomet Singh， Abdullah Khan， and Dost Akbar were all present.
We talked the matter over again， and at last we came to anarrangement. We were to provide both the officers with charts ofthe part of the Agra fort， and mark the place in the wall where thetreasure was hid. Major Sholto was to go to India to test our story.
If he found the box he was to leave it there， to send out a smallyacht provisioned for a voyage， which was to lie off Rutland Island，and to which we were to make our way， and finally to return to hisduties. Captain Morstan was then to apply for leave of absence， tomeet us at Agra， and there we were to have a final division of thetreasure， he taking the major’s share as well as his own. All this wesealed by the most solemn oaths that the mind could think or thelips utter. I sat up all night with paper and ink， and by the morningI had the two charts all ready， signed with the sign of four—thatis， of Abdullah， Akbar， Mahomet， and myself.
“Well， gentlemen， I weary you with my long story， and I knowthat my friend Mr. Jones is impatient to get me safely stowed inchokey. I’ll make it as short as I can. The villain Sholto went offto India， but he never came back again. Captain Morstan showedme his name among a list of passengers in one of the mail-boatsvery shortly afterwards. His uncle had died， leaving him a fortune，and he had left the army； yet he could stoop to treat five men ashe had treated us. Morstan went over to Agra shortly afterwards，and found， as we expected， that the treasure was indeed gone.