Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 40 Four Signatures 18
"I am a new soldier and a disabled person. I became a small leader. In those two days, I was very proud. For the first two nights, I guarded the fort with those two Indian soldiers from Punjab province. The door. The two of them are called Mohamed Hink and Abdullah Singh. They have participated in the battle and are veterans. They are fierce in appearance and tall. Both of them speak English They all spoke very well, but they stood together all night in front of me, talking non-stop in weird Sikh language, and I couldn't get in a word, so I had to stand outside the door alone, looking down. The wide avenue, the meandering river, the thousands of lights in the city, the sound of drums and gongs from the other side, and the frantic shouting of the rebels after they had smoked enough opium, all told me constantly: On the opposite side are dangerous elements and rebel soldiers. In order to prevent accidents, the officers on duty will go to various places to inspect every two hours.

"On the third night, there was a light rain in the overcast sky. In this weather, standing for several hours was really annoying and boring. So I tried to communicate with the two Indian soldiers again, but they still treated me I don't care. At [-]:[-] a.m., a routine patrol breaks the silence a bit, and then it's business as usual. Since they don't want to talk to me, I have to find my own entertainment. I put down the gun and strike a match to light At this moment, two Indian soldiers suddenly rushed towards me. One snatched the gun I had just put down and pointed it at me; the other put a big knife on my neck and threatened that as long as I Cut my throat with a knife at the slightest movement.

My instinctive realization was that these two guys were with the rebels and this was the start of their assault.If they occupy this fort gate.Then the whole castle will undoubtedly fall into the hands of the enemy, and the women and children in the castle will also fall to the same terrible end as the women and children in Bull City.Maybe some of you think I'm bragging, but I can swear that even though I feel the point of the knife on my throat, I still want to shout, even if it will be my last cry, because saying Maybe this can give the guard center a warning.The man who held me seemed to be aware of my thoughts, for just as I was about to shout, he said softly: 'Be quiet, the castle is safe.We are not rebel lackeys either. ’ He sounded earnest, and I knew I was going to die if I yelled, you could see it in the guy’s brown eyes.Therefore, I remained silent and waited quietly to see what they would do with me.

"The taller and more aggressive man named Abdullah Singh said: 'Listen, sir! There are only two options for you now: cooperate with us or die. Because this This matter is too important for any of us to hesitate. Either you swear to God with all your heart to cooperate with us, or we throw your body in the ditch tonight and cross the river to our rebel brothers, Apart from this, there is no other way to choose. Is it life or death, which one do you choose? I can only give you 3 minutes to think about it, because the time is tight, and we have to get everything done before the time for the next round of inspections.'

"I said: 'You didn't tell me what it was, how can I decide? If what you do is harmful to the safety of the castle, I will never participate. Let's just give me a knife, I'm not afraid!'

"He said: 'It has nothing to do with the castle, we want you to do the same thing that you Englishmen do when you go to India - to make you rich. If you cooperate with us tonight, we will pay This knife solemnly swears to you that it will give you a fair and reasonable share of the treasure it gets, that is, a quarter of the treasure will be yours. There can be no fairer practice than this. We Sikhs I will never break my oath."

"I asked: 'What treasure? I would like to be as rich as you, but you have to tell me how to do it?' He said: 'Then you swear, on your father's life, on your mother's name and on your religion , From now on, we will never do anything that is not good for all of us, or say anything that is not good for all of us.'

"I answered, 'I am willing to swear so long as it does not endanger the safety of the castle.'

"'Then we both swear together that you shall have a quarter of the treasure, that is to say, four of us, each with an equal share.'"

"I said, 'There are only three of us here!'

"'No, there are four of us, and Dost Akbar must share. We'll tell you all while we wait for him. Stand by the door, Mohamet Hink, when he comes. Inform us. I tell you now, the thing is, I know Europeans keep their oaths, so we can trust you. If you are an Indian who is used to telling lies, no matter how much you swear, we will not believe you .The knife has been stained with your blood and your bones have been thrown into the river. But the Sikhs know the British and the British know the Sikhs. So listen to me.'

"'In the northern part of our India there was a chieftain who, although he had a small territory, had a great deal of property, half of which was bequeathed to him by his father, and half which he scavenged himself. After the war broke out, he neither offended the rebels nor opposed the white people. On the one hand, he agreed with the rebels to boycott the white people, because all he heard was the news of the massacre of the white people, and on the other hand, he was afraid that one day the white people On the other hand, he will suffer disadvantages. He is a shrewd man. After much consideration, he came up with a two-way plan: he divided all his property into two, and put all the gold and silver coins in his palace. In the safe, put the most valuable diamonds and most precious jewelry in an iron box, and send a confidant to pretend to be a businessman to send the iron box to Agra Fort to hide it until the world is peaceful. If the rebels win, he keeps his money; if the white man wins, he loses his money but keeps his pearls and diamonds. When he settles his property, he throws it into the arms of the rebels— Because the rebels in his place are strong. According to what he has done, sir, imagine whether his property should belong to someone who has always been loyal to one side.'

"'That pretended businessman, under the alias of Erjimede, is now in the city of Accra. Tonight, he is going to sneak into the fort with his treasure. His companion, that is, my brother Dost? Ba also knew the secret. He knew that we were guarding the gate of the fort, so he negotiated with us to bring him in through the gate of the fort. They will arrive soon. This place is very remote, and no one would expect them to come here. Merchant Erjimede is about to disappear from this world, and the property of the king of earth will soon be in the hands of some of us. Look, sir, okay?"

"During the Taiping period, human life was sacred and inviolable. However, in the situation where wars were raging and lives were cruelly plundered, people no longer valued life that much. At that time, the treasures moved me, and the businessman Er The life and death of Guimede seemed indifferent to me. My mind was full of ideas about how to use this wealth in the future. I imagined: When I went back to show the gold coins to the villagers, they were stunned. Thinking of this, I secretly made up my mind to work with them. But Abdullah Singh thought I was hesitant and asked me One sentence.

"He said: 'Sir, you think, if the commander catches this man, he will be executed, the treasures will be confiscated, and no one will be able to make any money. Now that he has fallen into our hands, why don't we Execute him on his behalf, and then divide those treasures among the four of us equally? They are enough to make each of us rich. Confiscation of the treasures is not the same as returning them to us? There is no one else around here, and there will be no Outsiders. How about this idea? Sir, you have to make it clear that you want to cooperate with us, or you and I will turn against each other.'

"I replied: 'My person and my soul stand with you.'

"He gave me the gun back and said, 'That's great, I'm sure you and we will always keep our word. All we have to do is wait patiently for those two to come.'

"'Dost `Akbar knows about this plan?'

"'He figured this out all by himself. Let's stand guard outside with Mohamed Hink.'

"At that time, the rainy season was just approaching, and the rain in the sky had not stopped, and patches of dark clouds were constantly drifting with the wind. The night was so thick that it was difficult for the naked eye to see clearly beyond a stone's throw away. There were some deposits in the trenches in front of the door The water, some places were drying up, and it was easy to walk over. We waited there without a word for the man who was coming to die.

"Suddenly, I saw a light flickering on the other side of the ditch. It first disappeared behind the hill, then appeared again, and slowly moved in our direction.

I whispered: 'They're coming! '

"Aberdullah ordered softly: 'Sir, please question them as usual. But don't frighten him. Then hand him over to us and let him in through the gate. You stay outside and we will do the rest. Get the lights ready, lest I misunderstand the wrong person.'

"The light flickered, stopped and entered, and slowly approached us. It was not until the light came to the opposite side of the ditch that I saw that they were two black figures. When they got down the ditch and waded through the stagnant water, After climbing ashore, I asked in a low voice, "Who is this person?"

"The visitor replied: 'It's a friend.' I approached them with a lamp, and I could clearly see that the person walking in front was a burly Indian with a black beard that grew almost to his waist. I have never seen a person as tall as him. The other person is very short, fat and chubby, with a rhubarb turban wrapped around his head, holding a bag wrapped in a scarf in his hand. Maybe it was because of the cold night, or maybe it was because of fear, his whole body was shaking , especially his hands, trembled violently, as if he had malaria. He kept looking around, his two small eyes sparkled, like a mouse that had come out of a hole, thinking that he was about to die unexpectedly I can't bear it. But when I thought of those treasures, which would make me a millionaire overnight, I ruthlessly dismissed the idea. When he saw that I was white, he couldn't help smiling and ran towards me happily .

"He gasped and said: 'Sir, please protect me. I am Ojimed, a troubled merchant. I have taken refuge in the Agra Fort from Rajputa. As I am a friend of the British, I have been robbed and flogged. and abuse. Nearly died. Now I and my stuff are safe again, thank God.'

"I asked: 'What's in the bag?'

"He replied: 'There are two things left by our ancestors in it. In the eyes of others, it is not worth a lot of money, but I am reluctant to throw it away. I am not a beggar. Really. Please let me be here Stay here for two days, and I will definitely repay you and your officer afterward.'

"The more I look at his pitiful chubby face, the more I can't bear to kill him. I really can't bear to talk to him like this anymore. It's better to let him go to heaven early.

"So I said, 'Take him to the headquarters.' Two Indian soldiers led him, one on the other, into the dark corridor inside, followed by the tall fellow. The kidnapper. So I was left alone with a lantern in my hand and stood guard outside.

"From within came the sound of their walking on the silent profile, and suddenly the sound of desperate tearing replaced the sound of walking steps. After a while, I heard a panting sound coming closer. I turned around with the lamp When I looked inside, I was shocked. The bloody businessman was running for his life, and the tall man behind him was chasing him with a knife. I have never seen a businessman running so desperately. The people behind were about to die. I caught up with him. I knew that as long as he escaped from my place, he would have a chance to survive. Seeing his terrified and pitiful appearance, I couldn't help feeling pity, but the alluring wealth hardened my heart again. When he was approaching, I swung him between the legs with an open fire gun, and he rolled forward as if he had been hit. Before he could get up from the ground, the Indian behind I ran after him, and two cuts killed him. He didn't even groan, and lay still on the ground. Maybe that trip would have killed him. Gentlemen, it doesn't matter if it's in my favor or not. Li, I told you the whole thing."

(End of this chapter)