Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 22 Four Signatures Revealed (11)
"The more anxious they were, the calmer I became. I said: 'Don't worry, I still need to discuss it with those three friends. As I said, we can only do this if we are all on the same page.'

"'What's that? What's the deal we white people have to do with three niggers?' he interjected involuntarily.

"'It doesn't matter black or white. I've made an oath to them, and I'll keep it.'

"Finally at the second meeting, Apodlak Khan, Durst Akbol, and Mohmet Singh also came. We negotiated again and reached an agreement. We The four gave each of the two officers a copy of the treasure map of Accra City, and marked the location of the treasure on the map so that Major Shuerto could find it. After discovering the box, Major Shuerto could not take it away first , but we must first prepare the speedboat and food, and go to Rotland Island to pick us up and escape. After that, the major will return to marketing leave immediately, and after Captain Morstan asks for leave, we will meet in Accra and share the jewels equally. Captain Morstan took their share. We swore everything and made a guarantee that we would never betray it. After spending the night, I drew two more maps of the treasure, both of which were signed With the names of the four of us.

"Gentlemen, I have said so much that you must be tired of listening. I know that Mr. Jones must want to send me back to the detention center as soon as possible to be at ease. So, I will put it briefly, and the result is that Sholto arrived. India never came back. A few days later, Captain Morstan brought us a passenger list of the steamer sailing from India to England, with Sholto's name on it. Said that his uncle left him a lot of inheritance, he He went back to inherit the inheritance. How shameless! He not only lied to us, but even his good friend. Later, as we imagined, when Mostan went to Accra to verify the jewelry, it was indeed gone. This shameless thing , did not keep his promise, and stole all the treasures. Since then, the only thought in my mind is revenge, whether the method is legal or not. During those years, my only thought was how to escape and find Shure Tor, and kill him. This is already more important than the Accra treasure itself.

"In my life, as long as I make a promise, I will definitely keep it. During the years of searching for Sholto, I really went through a lot of hardships. As I said, I learned some superficial medicine in the Andaman Islands. One day , a savage on the island was very ill, and was lying in the woods to die. The prisoner who worked in the woods brought him back, and it happened that Dr. Somerton was also very ill at this time. I heard that this savage had a personality He was very vicious, but he took the initiative to take care of him carefully for more than two months, which made him healthy again. Since then, he has developed a good impression on me, guarding around my house every day, and does not want to go back to the woods. Later, I learned some things from him The local dialect, which made him more fond of me. Tongge is a native of this country. He has a big canoe and has very superb sailing skills. He is very loyal to me and is willing to help me Do everything. After that, I made an escape plan. I wanted him to wait for me on a small unguarded pier. I waited until I got on the boat and escaped overnight. I told him the plan and told him to prepare Nice boat and water, and some food.

"Tong Ge is really loyal and reliable. He really rowed the boat to the pier on time that night. There was an Afghan prison guard who bullied me the most. He happened to be on guard this day. I have always wanted to find a chance to take revenge on him, and now I finally have a good chance. God sent him before me so that I could take revenge when I was gone. He was standing on the shore with his back to me, and at first I tried to smash his head with a stone, but there wasn't even a stone there. Then I suddenly remembered a good weapon I had with me. I sat down in the dark night, carefully untied my wooden leg, and jumped three times before him, and hit him so hard that his head shattered instantly. .This crack on my wooden leg is from that time. Later, because of the unstable center of gravity, I also fell down. When I got up, he was still lying there, motionless. Then I got on the boat , an hour later, we finally left that nightmarish place. Tongge loaded all his belongings, weapons and idols onto the boat. Among them was a bamboo spear and a mat made of coconut leaves from Andaman Island. .I made sails and masts out of this. We were drifting aimlessly on the sea. Ten days later, we finally saw a passenger ship from Singapore to Jeddah. The ship was full of Malaysian pilgrims, and we were saved. Although those pilgrims were weird, we got to know them quickly. One thing they were good about was that they didn't ask us anything, just told us to stay quietly.

"If we go on like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to finish our revenge experience until tomorrow morning. In short, we have been wandering around the world since then, but we can't go to London. But even so, I still haven't forgotten Revenge. Even in my dreams at night, I have chased Sholto many times. It was not until three or four years ago that we finally returned to London. In the UK, it is not difficult to find Sholto. The next step is to inquire about the treasure Whether it is still in his hands, whether he really stole the treasure. For this I made a good friend who has been helping me-forgive me, I will not say his name, because I don't want to embarrass anyone. Soon, I found out that the treasure was indeed in his hands, so I started my revenge plan. But Sholto was too cunning, in addition to an Indian servant and two sons, there were actually two boxers protecting him day and night.

"One day, I suddenly heard that he was dying of illness, but I was never reconciled to his death. So I sneaked into his garden and leaned on his bedroom window to check the situation. I saw him lying on the bed, beside him At that time, I really wanted to rush in and fight him one-on-three, but at this time, his jaw suddenly dropped and he died. It was useless even if he went in. That night, I secretly searched I went to his room, hoping to find clues to the jewels, but was disappointed. I was so angry that I put the blueprint with the four signatures on his chest as a sign of revenge. The three partners, it is better to tell them that I have taken revenge. We have been deceived so badly by him, and it is too cheap for him not to leave a mark for him when we die.

"Over the years, the two of us have mainly relied on Tongge for our lives. We held raw exhibitions and performances in the market or some crowded places. Tongge performed eating raw meat or dancing war dances, and he was able to earn a hat of copper coins every day. In the past few years, we have often heard news about Yingnuma Villa, but it was just a matter of them digging treasures everywhere. Finally, one day, news came that Bartholomew Sholto found a treasure on the roof of his laboratory I wanted to check it out right away, but I couldn't climb in through the window because of the inconvenient wooden legs. Later, I learned that there was a hidden door in the attic, and that Mr. Sholto had a fixed time for eating every day. So I I asked Tongge to take a rope, and then we went to Yingzhang Villa together. I tied Tongge’s waist with a long rope, and he climbed up like a cat, and he went up in a few strokes. But I didn’t expect that Basolo Miao Shuerto was still in the house, just in time to show Tongge the door. Tongge killed someone and thought he had done the right thing. When I climbed in with the rope, he was walking around triumphantly. I was very angry, picked up the rope and whipped him, calling him a little vampire while whipping, and he realized that he was wrong. I left a note with four signatures on the table and went straight to the treasure chest. Finally, I used The rope lifted the box down, and then he slid down the rope himself. After Tongge broke, he retracted the rope, closed the window, and returned the same way.

"All that needs to be said has been said. In addition, I thought of using the 'Dawn' to escape from the beginning, because I once heard a boatman say that it was very fast. Later I told Smith that if he There will be a lot of rewards for getting us safely to the big ship. Of course he later saw some tricks, but he knew nothing about our secrets. These words are true, and I am not doing this in exchange for any forgiveness. I said, and I think the truth is the best defense for me. In addition, I also want the world to know the real face of Sholto, let people know how he cheated our trust, and did such a bad thing. As for his son's death, it wasn't my fault at all."

Holmes said: "It's really an interesting story. This strange case finally has a happy ending. The second half of your narration is similar to my speculation, but I didn't expect it to be the rope you brought. In addition, Tong Greg should have lost all his stingers, but how did he end up with another?"

"Yes, he did lose them all, except for one left in the blowpipe.

"Oh, how could I have overlooked that."

The prisoner took the initiative to ask again: "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"No, thank you," said Holmes.

Ethelney Jones said: "Well, Holmes, as we all know, you are an expert in criminal investigation. We should have learned more from you, but I am in a world and cannot help myself. I have to do my duty. Today , I have been very accommodating to your friend, so now I must take him to prison immediately. The carriage has arrived, and two sheriffs are waiting downstairs for a long time. You two are testifying in court. Well, thank you very much for your great help, good night."

"Good evening, gentlemen," said Jonathan Small.

Careful Jones said suddenly when he came to the door: "You go ahead, Small, I have to be careful, lest you give me a wooden leg like you did to the gentleman from Andaman Island."

Holmes and I smoked in silence for some time after they had gone.Finally, I broke the silence and said: "The play is finally over. I'm afraid I will have less chance to learn from you in the future, because Miss Morstan has agreed to me as her fiancé."

He snorted in a low voice and said, "I've expected it a long time ago, but I'm sorry, I can't congratulate you."

After hearing this, I asked very unhappy: "Are you dissatisfied with her?"

"No, on the contrary, I think she is the most respectable and lovely girl I have ever met, and very helpful to you and me in this kind of work. From the Accra treasure map she kept, and her According to some documents of her father, she is very talented in this area. However, I think the most important condition for doing this kind of work is to have a calm mind, but love is the opposite, it is the natural enemy that affects the calm of the brain. Therefore, I will Never fall in love and marry, so as not to affect my judgment."

I smiled and said: "But I'm sure, my choice this time will definitely stand the test, as if you're tired."

"Yes, I'm a little tired. I'm afraid I won't be able to recover in a week."

I said, "It's strange, how can a person who seems to be lazy, have so much energy every now and then?"

He said: "It is true that I am lazy by nature, but I am very active. So I often think of Goethe's words: 'God only made you a human form, but it is only a gold and jade, but you are in it.'

"In this case, I think the Indian servant Lal Jorda is probably a spy of Yingzhang Villa, and he is the insider. Anyway, Jones finally got this person, and the credit belongs to him!"

I said, "That's not a fair division. You solved the case, and as a result, I got my wife and Jones got the honor. What about you? What did you get?"

"Perhaps it is the cocaine bottle," said Sherlock Holmes, picking it up.

(End of this chapter)