A Dash from Diamond City Part 65

"The walking-stick and the flute-case are mine," said Anson coolly.

"The pistol must be the driver's. I had a rifle; but your men took that away."

"Nothing else?" said the General.

"Nothing else, sir. We looked everywhere," replied the sergeant, and he offered his superior the objects he had brought; but the General shrugged his shoulders and looked at his officers, who each examined the revolver, stick, and flute-case, and pa.s.sed them back to the sergeant.

"Well, gentlemen," said the General, turning to West and Ingleborough: "you hear. What have you to say now?"

"The prisoner owned to these things being his!" said Ingleborough.

"No, I didn't!" said Anson sharply. "Revolver isn't mine."

"Only lent to you, perhaps," said Ingleborough, taking the weapon from the sergeant's hands and c.o.c.king it, making Anson wince.

"I'm not going to fire," said Ingleborough, smiling contemptuously, as he held the pistol in both hands with his thumb-nails together on the top of the b.u.t.t. Then, pressing the c.o.c.k sidewise, the b.u.t.t opened from end to end upon a concealed hinge, showing that it was perfectly hollowed out and that half-a-dozen large diamonds lay within, closely packed in cotton wool.

Anson turned clay-coloured.

"'Tisn't mine!" he cried. "I know nothing about it!"

"Well, never mind," said the General; "it is ours now. An interesting bit of loot, gentlemen!"

There was a murmur of voices at this, and as soon as the pistol had been handed round the b.u.t.t was closed with a sharp snap, and the General turned to Ingleborough again.

"Well, sir," he said: "is that all?"

"I am not sure," replied Ingleborough; "but I am suspicious about that stick."

"You think it is hollowed out?"

"Yes, sir," said Ingleborough, and, taking it in his hands, he drew it apart, dragging into the light from its sheath a handsome Damascened three-edged blade, which he held against the cane, proving that the blade went right down to the ferrule at the end.

"What about the handle?" said one of the officers eagerly, as Ingleborough thrust back the blade into its cane sheath.

"That is what I suspect!" said Ingleborough, and he carefully examined the silver-gilt tip, but twisted and turned it in vain, for there seemed to be no way of opening it, till all at once he tried to twist the sheath portion beneath the double ring which divided hilt from sheath, when the handle turned for about half-an-inch and was then drawn off, disclosing a hollow sh.e.l.l lining which held another deposit of diamonds packed in cotton wool.

"More loot, gentlemen!" said the General, smiling. "What comes next?"

"The flute," cried two voices together, and Ingleborough opened the case, showing the three joints fitting tightly in the velvet-lined compartments.

"A silent musical instrument!" said the General, smiling.

"Can anyone play the overture to the Crown Diamonds?" said one of the _aides-de-camp_ merrily.

"This is the overture!" said another, and Ingleborough took out two joints in turn, perfectly empty, fitted them together, and then took out the top joint, to put that in its proper position, before raising the instrument to his lips and running up and down the gamut.

"Nothing there," said the General.

But Ingleborough lowered the flute, held it in both hands, and drew it apart at the tuning-slide, held it sidewise, and then unscrewed the top plug, showing an opening, out of which he shook a magnificent gem of great size and perfect make.

"Bravo!" cried the General excitedly. And then: "I'm afraid, Mr Dealer in mealies and corn, the judgment will go dead against you. Have you done?" he continued, turning to Ingleborough.

"Not quite, sir!" replied the latter. "Come, West, don't let me get all the credit for unmasking the scoundrel."

"Look here," cried Anson viciously, "I protest against being called a scoundrel! Those are my private savings, invested in what were bought honestly."

"I think, sir, you had better keep your tongue silent until we have quite done!" said the General.

Then, turning to the two young men, he bade them go on.

"Come, West," said Ingleborough, "you suspect where our friend who is no scoundrel has hidden more diamonds, do you not?"

"Well, yes," said West, rather unwillingly, for the whole business disgusted him.

"Speak out, then! I am sure it is in the same place as I think he has more plunder; but you shall have your turn now."

"No, no; go on," said West warmly.

"If you suspect that there is some place unsearched," said the General sternly, "speak out, sir."

"Then I believe, sir," said West, "that if the water-cask that is slung under the wagon is opened you will find a number of diamonds hidden there!"

There was a burst of excitement at this, everyone present speaking save the sergeant, who did a bit of pantomime which meant: "Of course!" for he bent down and gave his leg a sounding slap.

"Yes," said Ingleborough; "that is where I meant."

"Why, I thought o' that once," cried the sergeant, "and then I says to myself: 'That's too stoopid a place; no one would hide diamonds where they're sure to be found'; but I crept underneath on my hands and knees and gave it a swing so as to make the water wash about inside. That satisfied me, and I came away."

"You have hit the mark, Mr West," said the General, smiling. "There is no doubt about it! Look at the prisoner's face!"

Anson tried hard to pull it back into its normal shape, for he had been gazing at West with a malignant look that meant anything from a rifle-shot to a stab with a bayonet.

"Now, sergeant, see if you can do better this time!" cried the General, as Anson's mouth shut with a click.

Then he stood fast with his brow wrinkled and his hands clenched, waiting expectantly with the rest of those present until the cask was set free from the raw-hide reins by which it was slung under the hind part of the wagon, and then rolled out, giving forth the regular hollow sound of a barrel half-full of liquid.

"Only sounds like water!" muttered the sergeant, and he set it running, to soak into the dry ground, and draining out as much as he could, before giving an order to the nearest man to take hold of one end while he raised the other, both men looking stern and severe in the extreme.

Then together they gave the cask a l.u.s.ty shake, and the sound which followed was that of some shovels full of pebbles rattling in the inside.

The next minute they had set the cask down on end with a grin of delight, which was taken up by their fellows, while a satisfied smile dawned upon the faces of the _aides-de-camp_.

"Here, stop that fellow!" shouted one of the officers, for, in spite of his heaviness, Anson proved that he could be active enough upon occasion, and this was one; for, seizing his opportunity, he dived under the wagon, and by the time the soldiers had run round to the other side he was off, dodging in and out among the wagons in the mad idea that he could escape; but before he had gone a hundred yards he came out suddenly upon a mounted man, and the next instant he went sprawling over a lance-shaft, and the steel-shod b.u.t.t end was planted upon his back to keep him from rising.

"Pity you should have taken all that trouble!" said the sergeant, as he came panting up, followed by his men, "because we might want you to tell us all a bit about the value of them stones! Now then, up with you.

Let him get up, Lancer! And see here, my lad, if you cut and run again--being a prisoner caught in the act of trying to escape--my men have orders to fire, and you're so broad and fat that they are sure to bring you down first shot."

Anson glared at the men's rifles and fixed bayonets, but he said nothing, marching back between the men to the spot where he had left the General and his old fellow-clerks; but the barrel had been carried to a place of safety, and those who had witnessed his discomfiture had gone.

Half-an-hour later he had been marched out of the camp, and was under lock and key in the military prison, a sentry being posted at the door.