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"'Is it on the road to this house, and on no other, that the English gentleman will travel to-day? 'Has the English gentleman got It about him? I suspect," says Mr. Franklin, pulling a little sealed paper parcel out of his pocket, "that 'It' means THIS. And 'this, Betteredge, means my uncle Herncastle's famous Diamond." "Good Lord, sir!"
I was trusted with the secret of Colonel Herncastle's plan for escaping assassination. I received the Colonel's letters, periodically reporting himself a living man. I drew his Will, leaving the Moonstone to Miss Verinder. I persuaded his executor to act, on the chance that the jewel might prove to be a valuable acquisition to the family. And, lastly, I combated Mr.
I am not only persuaded of Herncastle's guilt; I am even fanciful enough to believe that he will live to regret it, if he keeps the Diamond; and that others will live to regret taking it from him, if he gives the Diamond away. The events related by GABRIEL BETTEREDGE, house-steward in the service of JULIA, LADY VERINDER.
It was in the court outside the treasury that my cousin and I met, to enforce the laws of discipline on our own soldiers. Herncastle's fiery temper had been, as I could plainly see, exasperated to a kind of frenzy by the terrible slaughter through which we had passed. He was very unfit, in my opinion, to perform the duty that had been entrusted to him.
Having now cleared the ground, I am going to ask you a question; and I expect your experience to answer it. What was the event which gave the Indians their first chance of seizing the Diamond?" I understood the allusion to my experience. "The first chance they got," I replied, "was clearly offered to them by Colonel Herncastle's death.
It made no serious impression on any of us except my cousin whose love of the marvellous induced him to believe it. On the night before the assault on Seringapatam, he was absurdly angry with me, and with others, for treating the whole thing as a fable. A foolish wrangle followed; and Herncastle's unlucky temper got the better of him.
Before we go on to the second, may I ask whether I have met your difficulty, with an explanation which is satisfactory to the mind of a practical man?" It was impossible to deny that he had met my difficulty fairly; thanks to his superior knowledge of the Indian character and thanks to his not having had hundreds of other Wills to think of since Colonel Herncastle's time!
Shall we run it over together, from the time when you drew Colonel Herncastle's Will, to the time when the Indian called at your office? In your position, it may be of very serious importance to the interests of Miss Verinder, that you should be able to take a clear view of this matter in case of need.
The dying Indian sank to his knees, pointed to the dagger in Herncastle's hand, and said, in his native language "The Moonstone will have its vengeance yet on you and yours!" He spoke those words, and fell dead on the floor. Before I could stir in the matter, the men who had followed me across the courtyard crowded in. My cousin rushed to meet them, like a madman.
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