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India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can `
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this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little `
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dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to `
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laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight `
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of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his `
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skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he `
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still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and `
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then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' `
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"'What is it, uncle?' I cried. `
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"'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his `
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room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope `
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and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the `
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gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else `
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save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his `
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overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I `
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ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, `
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which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small `
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brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. `
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"'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' `
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said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my `
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room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' `
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"I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to `
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step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the `
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grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned `
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paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I `
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glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was `
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printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the `
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envelope. `
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"'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave `
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my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to `
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my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to `
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you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you `
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cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest `
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enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't `
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say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper `
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where Mr. Fordham shows you.' `
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"I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with `
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him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest `
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impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every `
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way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I `
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could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left `
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behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed `
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and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I `
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could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, `
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and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his `
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time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the `
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inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy `
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and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a `
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revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, `
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and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by `
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man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would `
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rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, `
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like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror `
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which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen `
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his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it `
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were new raised from a basin. `
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"Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to `
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abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those `
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drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when `
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we went to search for him, face downward in a little `
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green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There `
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was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, `
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so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, `
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brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced `
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from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself `
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that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, `
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however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and `
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of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." `
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"One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, `
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one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me `
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have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and `
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the date of his supposed suicide." `
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`
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"The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks `
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later, upon the night of May 2nd." `
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`
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"Thank you. Pray proceed." `
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"When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my `
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request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been `
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always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its `
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contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a `
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paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and `
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'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. `
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These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had `
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been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was `
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nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many `
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scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in `
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America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had `
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done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. `
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Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern `
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states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had `
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evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag `
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politicians who had been sent down from the North. `
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"Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at `
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Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the `
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January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my `
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father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the `
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breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened `
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envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the `
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outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what `
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he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked `
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very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon `
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himself. `
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"'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. `
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"My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. `
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"He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are `
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the very letters. But what is this written above them?' `
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"'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his `
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shoulder. `
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"'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. `
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"'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the `
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papers must be those that are destroyed.' `
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"'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a `
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civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. `
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Where does the thing come from?' `
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"'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. `
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"'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do `
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with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such `
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nonsense.' `
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"'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. `
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`
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"'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' `
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"'Then let me do so?' `
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"'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such `
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nonsense.' `
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"It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate `
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man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of `
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forebodings. `
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`
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"On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went `
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from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is `
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in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad `
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that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from `
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danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in `
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error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram `
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from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had `
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fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the `
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neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I `
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hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered `
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his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from `
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Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, `
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and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in `
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bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' `
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Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I `
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was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of `
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murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no `
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robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. `
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And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, `
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and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been `
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woven round him. `
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"In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me `
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why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well `
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convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an `
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incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as `
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pressing in one house as in another. `
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`
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"It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two `
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years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time `
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I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that `
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this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended `
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with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, `
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however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in `
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which it had come upon my father." `
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The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and `
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turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried `
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orange pips. `
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`
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"This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is `
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London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were `
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upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the `
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papers on the sundial.'" `
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"What have you done?" asked Holmes. `
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"Nothing." `
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