A very patient man was that inspector in the cab, for it was a weary time before I reed him. His face clouded over when I showed him the empty box.

"There goes the reward!" said he, gloomily. "Where there is no money there is no pay. This night's work would have been worth a tenner each to Sam Brown and me if the treasure had been there."
"Mr. Thaddeus Sholto is a rich man," I said. "He will see that you are rewarded, treasure or no."
The inspector shook his head despondently, however. "It's a bad job," he repeated; "and so Mr. Athelney Jones will think."
His forecast proved to be correct, for the detective looked blank enough when I got to Baker Street and showed him the empty box. They had only just arrived, Holmes, the prisoner, and he, for they had changed their plans so far as to report themselves at a station upon the way. My companion lounged in his arm-chair with his usual listless expression, while Small sat stolidly opposite to him with his wooden leg cocked over his sound one. As I exhibited the empty box he leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud.
"This is your doing, Small," said Athelney Jones, angrily.
"Yes, I have put it away where you shall never lay hand upon it," he cried, exultantly. "It is my treasure; and if I can't have the loot I'll take darned good care that no one else does. I tell you that no living man has any right to it, unless it is three men who are in the Andaman convict-barracks and myself. I know now that I cannot have the use of it, and I know that they cannot. I have acted all through for them as much as for myself. It's been the sign of four with us always. Well I know that they would have had me do just what I have done, and throw the treasure into the Thames rather than let it go to kith or kin of Sholto or of Morstan. It was not to make them rich that we did for Achmet. You'll find the treasure where the key is, and where little Tonga is. When I saw that your launch must catch us, I put the loot away in a safe place. There are no rupees for you this journey."

"You are deceiving us, Small," said Athelney Jones, sternly. "If you had wished to throw the treasure into the Thames it would have been easier for you to have thrown box and all."

"Easier for me to throw, and easier for you to recover," he answered, with a shrewd, sidelong look. "The man that was clever enough to hunt me down is clever enough to pick an iron box from the bottom of a river. Now that they are scattered over five miles or so, it may be a harder job. It went to my heart to do it, though. I was half mad when you came up with us. However, there's no good grieving over it. I've had ups in my life, and I've had downs, but I've learned not to cry over spilled milk."

"This is a very serious matter, Small," said the detective. "If you had helped justice, instead of thwarting it in this way, you would have had a better chance at your trial."

"Justice!" snarled the ex-convict. "A pretty justice! Whose loot is this, if it is not ours? Where is the justice that I should give it up to those who have never earned it? Look how I have earned it! Twenty long years in that fever-ridden swamp, all day at work under the mangrove-tree, all night chained up in the filthy convict-huts, bitten by mosquitoes, racked with ague, bullied by every cursed black-faced policeman who loved to take it out of a white man. That was how I earned the Agra treasure; and you talk to me of justice because I cannot bear to feel that I have paid this price only that another may enjoy it! I would rather swing a score of times, or have one of Tonga's darts in my hide, than live in a convict's cell and feel that another man is at his ease in a palace with the money that should be mine."

Small had dropped his mask of stoicism, and all this came out in a wild whirl of words, while his eyes blazed, and the handcuffs clanked together with the imioned movement of his hands. I could understand, as I saw the fury and the ion of the man, that it was no groundless or unnatural terror which had possessed Major Sholto when he first learned that the injured convict was upon his track.

"You forget that we know nothing of all this," said Holmes quietly. "We have not heard your story, and we cannot tell how far justice may originally have been on your side."

"Well, sir, you have been very fair-spoken to me, though I can see that I have you to thank that I have these bracelets upon my wrists. Still, I bear no grudge for that. It is all fair and above-board. If you want to hear my story I have no wish to hold it back. What I say to you is God's truth, every word of it. Thank you; you can put the glass beside me here, and I'll put my lips to it if I am dry.

"I am a Worcestershire man myself,—born near Pershore. I dare say you would find a heap of Smalls living there now if you were to look. I have often thought of taking a look round there, but the truth is that I was never much of a credit to the family, and I doubt if they would be so very glad to see me. They were all steady, chapel-going folk, small farmers, well known and respected over the country-side, while I was always a bit of a rover. At last, however, when I was about eighteen, I gave them no more trouble, for I got into a mess over a girl, and could only get out of it again by taking the queen's shilling and ing the 3d Buffs, which was just starting for India.

"I wasn't destined to do much soldiering, however. I had just got past the goose-step, and learned to handle my musket, when I was fool enough to go swimming in the Ganges. Luckily for me, my company sergeant, John Holder, was in the water at the same time, and he was one of the finest swimmers in the service. A crocodile took me, just as I was half-way across, and nipped off my right leg as clean as a surgeon could have done it, just above the knee. What with the shock and the loss of blood, I fainted, and should have drowned if Holder had not caught hold of me and paddled for the bank. I was five months in hospital over it, and when at last I was able to limp out of it with this timber toe strapped to my stump I found myself invalided out of the army and unfitted for any active occupation.

"I was, as you can imagine, pretty down on my luck at this time, for I was a useless cripple though not yet in my twentieth year. However, my misfortune soon proved to be a blessing in disguise. A man named Abelwhite, who had come out there as an indigo-planter, wanted an overseer to look after his coolies and keep them up to their work. He happened to be a friend of our colonel's, who had taken an interest in me since the accident. To make a long story short, the colonel recommended me strongly for the post and, as the work was mostly to be done on horseback, my leg was no great obstacle, for I had enough knee left to keep good grip on the saddle.

What I had to do was to ride over the plantation, to keep an eye on the men as they worked, and to report the idlers. The pay was fair, I had comfortable quarters, and altogether I was content to spend the remainder of my life in indigo-planting. Mr. Abelwhite was a kind man, and he would often drop into my little shanty and smoke a pipe with me, for white folk out there feel their hearts warm to each other as they never do here at home.
"Well, I was never in luck's way long. Suddenly, without a note of warning, the great mutiny broke upon us. One month India lay as still and peaceful, to all appearance, as Surrey or Kent; the next there were two hundred thousand black devils let loose, and the country was a perfect hell.

Of course you know all about it, gentlemen,—a deal more than I do, very like, since reading is not in my line. I only know what I saw with my own eyes. Our plantation was at a place called Muttra, near the border of the Northwest Provinces. Night after night the whole sky was alight with the burning bungalows, and day after day we had small companies of Europeans ing through our estate with their wives and children, on their way to Agra, where were the nearest troops. Mr. Abelwhite was an obstinate man. He had it in his head that the affair had been exaggerated, and that it would blow over as suddenly as it had sprung up. There he sat on his veranda, drinking whiskey-pegs and smoking cheroots, while the country was in a blaze about him. Of course we stuck by him, I and Dawson, who, with his wife, used to do the book-work and the managing.

Well, one fine day the crash came. I had been away on a distant plantation, and was riding slowly home in the evening, when my eye fell upon something all huddled together at the bottom of a steep nullah. I rode down to see what it was, and the cold struck through my heart when I found it was Dawson's wife, all cut into ribbons, and half eaten by jackals and native dogs. A little further up the road Dawson himself was lying on his face, quite dead, with an empty revolver in his hand and four Sepoys lying across each other in front of him. I reined up my horse, wondering which way I should turn, but at that moment I saw thick smoke curling up from Abelwhite's bungalow and the flames beginning to burst through the roof.

I knew then that I could do my employer no good, but would only throw my own life away if I meddled in the matter. From where I stood I could see hundreds of the black fiends, with their red coats still on their backs, dancing and howling round the burning house. Some of them pointed at me, and a couple of bullets sang past my head; so I broke away across the paddy-fields, and found myself late at night safe within the walls at Agra.

"As it proved, however, there was no great safety there, either. The whole country was up like a swarm of bees. Wherever the English could collect in little bands they held just the ground that their guns commanded. Everywhere else they were helpless fugitives. It was a fight of the millions against the hundreds; and the cruellest part of it was that these men that we fought against, foot, horse, and gunners, were our own picked troops, whom we had taught and trained, handling our own weapons, and blowing our own bugle-calls.

At Agra there were the 3d Bengal Fusiliers, some Sikhs, two troops of horse, and a battery of artillery. A volunteer corps of clerks and merchants had been formed, and this I ed, wooden leg and all. We went out to meet the rebels at Shahgunge early in July, and we beat them back for a time, but our powder gave out, and we had to fall back upon the city.

Nothing but the worst news came to us from every side,—which is not to be wondered at, for if you look at the map you will see that we were right in the heart of it. Lucknow is rather better than a hundred miles to the east, and Cawnpore about as far to the south. From every point on the com there was nothing but torture and murder and outrage.

"The city of Agra is a great place, swarming with fanatics and fierce devil-worshippers of all sorts. Our handful of men were lost among the narrow, winding streets. Our leader moved across the river, therefore, and took up his position in the old fort at Agra.

I don't know if any of you gentlemen have ever read or heard anything of that old fort. It is a very queer place,—the queerest that ever I was in, and I have been in some rum corners, too. First of all, it is enormous in size. I should think that the enclosure must be acres and acres. There is a modern part, which took all our garrison, women, children, stores, and everything else, with plenty of room over. But the modern part is nothing like the size of the old quarter, where nobody goes, and which is given over to the scorpions and the centipedes. It is all full of great deserted halls, and winding ages, and long corridors twisting in and out, so that it is easy enough for folk to get lost in it. For this reason it was seldom that any one went into it, though now and again a party with torches might go exploring.

"The river washes along the front of the old fort, and so protects it, but on the sides and behind there are many doors, and these had to be guarded, of course, in the old quarter as well as in that which was actually held by our troops. We were short-handed, with hardly men enough to man the angles of the building and to serve the guns. It was impossible for us, therefore, to station a strong guard at every one of the innumerable gates. What we did was to organize a central guard-house in the middle of the fort, and to leave each gate under the charge of one white man and two or three natives.

La extraa historia de Jonathan Small

Aquel inspector que se haba quedado en el coche era un hombre muy paciente, porque transcurri bastante rato antes de que me reuniera con l. Su rostro se ensombreci cuando le mostr la caja vaca.
––Adis a la recompensa ––dijo en tono abatido––. Si no hay dinero, no hay paga. Si el tesoro hubiera estado ah, el trabajo de esta noche nos habra valido a Sam Brown y a m diez libras por cabeza.
––El seor Thaddeus Sholto es rico ––dije––. l se ocupar de que sean recompensados, con tesoro o sin l.
Pero el inspector neg con la cabeza en un gesto de desaliento.
––Un mal trabajo ––repiti––. Y lo mismo pensar Athelney Jones.
Su prediccin result acertada, porque el polica se qued completamente plido cuando llegu a Baker Street y le mostr la caja vaca. Holmes, el detenido y l acababan de llegar, porque haban cambiado de plan por el camino y haban ido a informar a una comisara. Mi compaero estaba arrellanado en su butaca con su habitual expresin de indiferencia, y Small se sentaba impasible frente a l, con la pata de palo cruzada sobre la pierna buena. Cuando present la caja vaca, se ech hacia atrs en su asiento y solt una carcajada.
––Esto es obra suya, Small ––dijo Athelney Jones, furioso.
––S, yo lo tir donde ustedes jams podrn echarle mano ––exclam alborozado––. El tesoro era mo, y si no puedo quedarme con l, ya pondr buen cuidado de que no se lo quede ningn otro. Les aseguro que ningn ser viviente tiene derecho a l, con excepcin de tres hombres que cumplen condena en el presidio de Andaman y de m mismo. Me consta que yo ya no podr aprovecharlo, y s que ellos tampoco. En todo momento he actuado en su nombre, tanto como en el mo propio. Siempre hemos sido fieles al signo de los cuatro. Pues bien, s que ellos habran querido que hiciera lo que he hecho: arrojar el tesoro al Tmesis antes que permitir que se lo quedasen los amigos y familiares de Sholto o de Morstan. No le hicimos a Achmet lo que le hicimos para enriquecerlos a ellos. Encontrarn ustedes el tesoro en el mismo sitio que la llave y que al pobre Tonga. Cuando vi que su lancha nos iba a alcanzar, escond el botn en lugar seguro. No hay rupias para ustedes en este viaje.
––Usted nos quiere engaar, Small ––dijo Athelney Jones en tono firme––. Si hubiera querido tirar el tesoro al Tmesis, le habra resultado ms fcil tirarlo con caja y todo.
––Ms fcil para m tirarlo, y ms fcil para ustedes recuperarlo –– respondi Small, con una astuta mirada de soslayo––. Un hombre lo bastante listo como para seguirme la pista tiene que ser tambin lo bastante listo como para sacar una caja de hierro del fondo de un ro. Pero ahora que las joyas estn esparcidas a lo largo de unas cinco millas, puede que le resulte ms difcil. La verdad es que me rompi el corazn tirarlas. Estaba medio loco cuando ustedes nos alcanzaron. Pero de nada sirve lamentarse. He pasado buenos y malos momentos en mi vida, pero he aprendido a no arrepentirme de nada.
––ste es un asunto muy serio, Small ––dijo el inspector––. Si hubiera usted ayudado a la justicia, en lugar de burlarla de este modo, habra tenido ms posibilidades a favor en su juicio.
––La justicia! ––se burl el expresidiario––. Bonita justicia! A quin perteneca ese botn sino a nosotros? Dnde est la justicia en que se lo regale a quien no ha hecho nada por ganrselo? Miren cmo me lo gan yo! Veinte largos aos en aquel pantano plagado de fiebres, trabajando todo el da en los manglares y encadenado toda la noche en las mugrientas barracas de los presos, comido por los mosquitos, atormentado por la fiebre intermitente, sufriendo los abusos de todos aquellos malditos policas negros, encantados de poder ajustarle las cuentas a un blanco. As me gan el tesoro de Agra, y ustedes me hablan de justicia porque no puedo soportar la idea de haber pagado este precio slo para que otro lo disfrute! Antes me dejara colgar una docena de veces, o que me clavaran en la piel uno de los dardos de Tonga, que vivir en una celda de la crcel sabiendo que otro vive cmodamente en un palacio con el dinero que debera haber sido mo.
Small haba dejado caer su mscara de estoicismo, y todo este discurso lo solt en un furioso torbellino de palabras, con los ojos echando llamas y haciendo chocar las esposas con los apasionados movimientos de sus manos. Al contemplar la furia y el ardor de aquel hombre, comprend que no era nada infundado ni ridculo el terror que se haba apoderado del mayor Sholto al enterarse de que el agraviado presidiario le segua la pista.
––Olvida usted que no sabemos nada de todo eso ––dijo Holmes tranquilamente––. No conocemos su historia y no podemos decir hasta qu punto pudo estar la justicia de su parte en un principio.
––Mire, seor, usted me habla con mucha amabilidad, aunque me doy perfecta cuenta de que es a usted a quien debo estos grilletes que llevo en las muecas. Aun as, no le guardo rencor por ello. Ha jugado limpio, con las cartas encima de la mesa. Si quiere escuchar mi historia, no tengo ningn motivo para callrmela. Lo que le voy a contar es la pura verdad, hasta la ltima palabra. Gracias, puede dejar el vaso aqu, a mi lado, y arrimar los labios si tengo sed.
Yo soy de Worcestershire, nacido cerca de Pershore. Apuesto a que si se pasan por all, encuentran un montn de gente apellidada Small. Muchas veces he pensado en ir a echar un vistazo por all, pero la verdad es que nunca fui un motivo de orgullo para la familia, y dudo de que se alegraran mucho de verme. Son todos gente respetable, que va a la iglesia, pequeos granjeros, conocidos y respetados en toda la regin, y yo siempre fui un bala perdida. Por fin, cuando tena unos dieciocho aos, dej de causarles problemas, porque me met en un lo por culpa de una chica y la nica manera que encontr de salir fue aceptando el salario de la reina, alistndome en el Tercero de Casacas Amarillas, que estaba a punto de partir hacia la India.
Sin embargo, no estaba destinado a ser soldado mucho tiempo. Apenas haba aprendido el paso de la oca y el manejo del mosquete cuando comet la tontera de ponerme a nadar en el Ganges. Tuve la suerte de que John Holder, el sargento de mi compaa, que era uno de los mejores nadadores de todo el ejrcito, estuviera tambin en el agua en aquel momento. Cuando estaba en medio del ro, un cocodrilo me atac y me arranc la pierna derecha tan limpiamente como lo habra hecho un cirujano. Con el susto y la prdida de sangre, me desmay, y me habra ahogado si Holder no me hubiera sostenido y llevado a la orilla. Pas cinco meses en el hospital y cuando por fin pude salir renqueando con esta pata de palo sujeta al mun, me encontr dado de baja en el ejrcito e incapacitado para cualquier ocupacin activa.
Como podrn imaginar, aquello fue un golpe muy duro: sin haber cumplido an los veinte aos, me vea convertido en un invlido. No obstante, al poco tiempo mi desgracia result ser una bendicin disfrazada. Un hombre llamado Abel White, que se haba establecido all para cultivar ail, buscaba un capataz que supervisara a sus peones y se ocupara de que trabajaran. Dio la casualidad de que era amigo de nuestro coronel, el cual se haba interesado por m desde mi accidente. Para abreviar la historia, el coronel me recomend encarecidamente para el puesto y, como la mayor parte del trabajo se haca a caballo, mi pierna no era un grave inconveniente porque me sujetaba perfectamente a la silla con la rodilla. Lo que tena que hacer era recorrer la plantacin, vigilar a los hombres durante el trabajo y dar parte de los holgazanes. La paga era buena, tena un alojamiento confortable y, en general, me daba por satisfecho con pasar el resto de mi vida en una plantacin de ail. El seor Abel White era un hombre amable y se pasaba con frecuencia por mi cabaa a fumar una pipa conmigo, porque en aquellos lugares los hombres blancos se tratan unos a otros con mucha ms consideracin que aqu en su pas.
Pero la buena suerte nunca me dur mucho. De pronto, sin una seal de advertencia, nos cay encima la gran rebelin. Un mes antes, la India pareca tan tranquila y pacfica como Surrey o Kent; al mes siguiente haba doscientos mil diablos negros sueltos por all, y el pas era un completo infierno.
Pero ustedes, caballeros, ya deben saber todo esto..., probablemente, mejor que yo, porque nunca fui muy aficionado a la lectura. Yo slo s lo que vi con mis propios ojos. Nuestra plantacin se encontraba en un lugar llamado Muttra, cerca de la frontera de las provincias del noroeste. Noche tras noche, el cielo entero se iluminaba con las llamas de los bngalos incendiados, y da tras da veamos pasar por nuestras tierras pequeos grupos de europeos con sus mujeres y nios, que se dirigan hacia Agra, donde se encontraba la guarnicin ms cercana.
El seor Abel White era un hombre obstinado. Se le haba metido en la cabeza que estaban exagerando el asunto y que la insurreccin se extinguira tan de golpe como haba estallado. Y se qued sentado en su terraza, bebiendo vasos de whisky con soda y fumando puros, mientras el pas arda a su alrededor. Como es natural, Dawson y yo nos quedamos con l. Dawson viva con su mujer y se encargaba de llevar los libros y la istracin. Y un buen da lleg la catstrofe. Yo haba estado en una plantacin bastante alejada y al atardecer cabalgaba despacio hacia la casa, cuando mis ojos se fijaron en un bulto informe que yaca en el fondo de una hondonada. Descend a caballo para ver lo que era y se me hel el corazn al descubrir que se trataba de la mujer de Dawson, cortada en tiras y medio devorada por los chacales y perros salvajes. Un poco ms adelante, en la carretera, estaba el propio Dawson cado de bruces y completamente muerto, con un revlver vaco en la mano y cuatro cipayos tendidos uno sobre otro delante de l. Tir de las riendas de mi caballo, preguntndome hacia dnde deba dirigirme; pero en aquel momento vi una espesa columna de humo que se elevaba del bngalo de Abel White, de cuyo tejado empezaban a surgir llamas. Comprend que ya no poda hacer nada por mi patrn, y que interviniendo no lograra ms que perder yo tambin la vida. Desde donde me encontraba poda ver cientos de aquellos demonios morenos, todava vestidos con sus casacas rojas, bailando y aullando en torno a la casa en llamas. Algunos sealaron hacia m y un par de balas pasaron silbando junto a mi cabeza; as que emprend la huida a travs de los arrozales y aquella misma noche me puse a salvo dentro de los muros de Agra.
Sin embargo, pronto qued claro que all tampoco se estaba muy seguro. El pas entero estaba revuelto como un enjambre de abejas. All donde los ingleses conseguan reunirse en pequeos grupos, podan mantener el terreno justo hasta donde alcanzaban sus fusiles. En todos los dems sitios eran fugitivos indefensos. Fue una lucha de millones contra centenares; y lo ms sangrante del asunto era que aquellos hombres contra los que luchbamos, infantera, caballera y artillera, eran nuestras propias tropas selectas, soldados a los que habamos enseado y preparado nosotros, que manejaban nuestras propias armas y utilizaban nuestros propios toques de corneta. En Agra estaban el Tercero de Fusileros Bengales, algunos sikhs, dos compaas de caballera y una batera de artillera. Se haba formado tambin un cuerpo voluntario de empleados y comerciantes, y a l me incorpor con mi pata de palo y todo. A principios de julio hicimos una salida para enfrentarnos con los rebeldes en Shahgunge, y los hicimos retroceder por algn tiempo, pero se nos acab la plvora y tuvimos que volver a refugiarnos en la ciudad.
De todas partes nos llegaban las peores noticias, lo cual no es de extraar, porque si miran ustedes el mapa vern que nos encontrbamos en el corazn mismo del conflicto. Lucknow est a poco ms de cien millas al Este, y Kanpur aproximadamente a la misma distancia por el Sur. En cualquier direccin de la brjula no haba ms que torturas, matanzas y atrocidades.
Agra es una gran ciudad, en la que proliferan toda clase de fanticos y feroces adoradores del demonio. Nuestro puado de hombres habra estado perdido en sus estrechas y tortuosas calles. As pues, nuestro jefe decidi cruzar el ro y tomar posiciones en el viejo fuerte de Agra. No s si alguno de ustedes, caballeros, habr ledo u odo algo acerca de aquel viejo fuerte. Es un sitio muy extrao..., el ms extrao que he visto, y eso que he estado en rincones de los ms raros. En primer lugar, tiene un tamao enorme. Yo creo que el recinto debe abarcar varias hectreas. Hay una parte moderna, donde se instal toda la guarnicin, las mujeres, los nios, las provisiones y todo lo dems, y an sobraba cantidad de sitio. Pero la parte moderna no es nada, comparada con el tamao de la parte vieja, donde no iba nadie, y que haba quedado abandonada a los escorpiones y los ciempis. Est toda llena de grandes salas vacas, pasadizos tortuosos y largos pasillos que tuercen a un lado y a otro, de manera que es bastante fcil perderse all. Por est razn, casi nunca se meta nadie por aquella parte, aunque de vez en cuando se enviaba un grupo con antorchas a explorar.
El ro pasa por la parte de delante del viejo fuerte, que as queda protegida, pero por los lados y por detrs hay muchas puertas y, naturalmente, haba que vigilarlas, tanto en la parte vieja como en la que ocupaban nuestras tropas. Andbamos escasos de personal y apenas disponamos de hombres suficientes para controlar las esquinas del edificio y atender los caones. As pues, nos resultaba imposible montar una fuerte guardia en cada una de las innumerables puertas. Lo que hicimos fue organizar un cuerpo de guardia central en medio del fuerte y dejar cada puerta a cargo de un hombre blanco y dos o tres nativos. A m me escogieron para vigilar durante ciertas horas de la noche una puertecilla aislada, en la fachada sudoeste del edificio. Pusieron bajo mi mando a dos soldados sikhs y se me orden que si ocurra algo disparase mi mosquete, asegurndome que inmediatamente llegara ayuda desde el cuerpo de guardia central. Pero como el cuerpo de guardia se encontraba a sus buenos doscientos pasos de distancia, y el espacio intermedio estaba formado por un laberinto de pasadizos y corredores, yo tena grandes dudas de que la ayuda pudiera llegar a tiempo en caso de un verdadero ataque.