DarqueDante/test2 · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 0 74
and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He had made a very
considerable fortune in the States, and his reason for leaving them
was his aversion to the negroes, and his dislike of the Republican
policy in extending the franchise to them. He was a singular man,
fierce and quick-tempered, very foul-mouthed when he was angry, and
of a most retiring disposition. During all the years that he lived at
Horsham, I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and
two or three fields round his house, and there he would take his
exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave his
room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very heavily, but he
would see no society and did not want any friends, not even his own
brother.

"He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the time
when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This would be
in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years in England.
He begged my father to let me live with him and he was very kind to
me in his way. When he was sober he used to be fond of playing
backgammon and draughts with me, and he would make me his
representative both with the servants and with the tradespeople, so
that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite master of the house.
I kept all the keys and could go where I liked and do what I liked,
so long as I did not disturb him in his privacy. There was one
singular exception, however, for he had a single room, a lumber-room
up among the attics, which was invariably locked, and which he would
never permit either me or anyone else to enter. With a boy's
curiosity I have peeped through the keyhole, but I was never able to
see more than such a collection of old trunks and bundles as would be
expected in such a room.

"One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp lay
upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a common
thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all paid in
ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From India!' said he
as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can this be?' Opening
it hurriedly, out there jumped five little dried orange pips, which
pattered down upon his plate. I began to laugh at this, but the laugh
was struck from my lips at the sight of his face. His lip had fallen,
his eyes were protruding, his skin the colour of putty, and he glared
at the envelope which he still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K.
K.!' he shrieked, and then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken
me!'

"'What is it, uncle?' I cried.

"'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his room,
leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope and saw
scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the gum, the
letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else save the five
dried pips. What could be the reason of his overpowering terror? I
left the breakfast-table, and as I ascended the stair I met him
coming down with an old rusty key, which must have belonged to the
attic, in one hand, and a small brass box, like a cashbox, in the
other.

"'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' said he
with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my room to-day,
and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.'

"I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to step
up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the grate there
was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned paper, while the
brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I glanced at the box I
noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was printed the treble K
which I had read in the morning upon the envelope.

"'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave my
estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to my
brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to you. If
you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you cannot,
take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest enemy. I am
sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't say what turn
things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr. Fordham
shows you.'

"I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with
him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest
impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every way in
my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I could not
shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left behind, though the
sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed and nothing happened to
disturb the usual routine of our lives. I could see a change in my
uncle, however. He drank more than ever, and he was less inclined for
any sort of society. Most of his time he would spend in his room,
with the door locked upon the inside, but sometimes he would emerge
in a sort of drunken frenzy and would burst out of the house and tear
about the garden with a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he
was afraid of no man, and that he was not to be cooped up, like a
sheep in a pen, by man or devil. When these hot fits were over,
however, he would rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar
it behind him, like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the
terror which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen
his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it
were new raised from a basin.

"Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to abuse
your patience, there came a night when he made one of those drunken
sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when we went to
search for him, face downward in a little green-scummed pool, which
lay at the foot of the garden. There was no sign of any violence, and

and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He had made a very

considerable fortune in the States, and his reason for leaving them

was his aversion to the negroes, and his dislike of the Republican

policy in extending the franchise to them. He was a singular man,

fierce and quick-tempered, very foul-mouthed when he was angry, and

of a most retiring disposition. During all the years that he lived at

Horsham, I doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and

two or three fields round his house, and there he would take his

exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave his

room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very heavily, but he

would see no society and did not want any friends, not even his own

brother.

"He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the time

when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This would be

in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years in England.

He begged my father to let me live with him and he was very kind to

me in his way. When he was sober he used to be fond of playing

backgammon and draughts with me, and he would make me his

representative both with the servants and with the tradespeople, so

that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite master of the house.

I kept all the keys and could go where I liked and do what I liked,

so long as I did not disturb him in his privacy. There was one

singular exception, however, for he had a single room, a lumber-room

up among the attics, which was invariably locked, and which he would

never permit either me or anyone else to enter. With a boy's

curiosity I have peeped through the keyhole, but I was never able to

see more than such a collection of old trunks and bundles as would be

expected in such a room.

"One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp lay

upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a common

thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all paid in

ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From India!' said he

as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can this be?' Opening

it hurriedly, out there jumped five little dried orange pips, which

pattered down upon his plate. I began to laugh at this, but the laugh

was struck from my lips at the sight of his face. His lip had fallen,

his eyes were protruding, his skin the colour of putty, and he glared

at the envelope which he still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K.

K.!' he shrieked, and then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken

me!'

"'What is it, uncle?' I cried.

"'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his room,

leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope and saw

scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the gum, the

letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else save the five

dried pips. What could be the reason of his overpowering terror? I

left the breakfast-table, and as I ascended the stair I met him

coming down with an old rusty key, which must have belonged to the

attic, in one hand, and a small brass box, like a cashbox, in the

other.

"'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' said he

with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my room to-day,

and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.'

"I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to step

up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the grate there

was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned paper, while the

brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I glanced at the box I

noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was printed the treble K

which I had read in the morning upon the envelope.

"'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave my

estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to my

brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to you. If

you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you cannot,

take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest enemy. I am

sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't say what turn

things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper where Mr. Fordham

shows you.'

"I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with

him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest

impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every way in

my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I could not

shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left behind, though the

sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed and nothing happened to

disturb the usual routine of our lives. I could see a change in my

uncle, however. He drank more than ever, and he was less inclined for

any sort of society. Most of his time he would spend in his room,

with the door locked upon the inside, but sometimes he would emerge

in a sort of drunken frenzy and would burst out of the house and tear

about the garden with a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he

was afraid of no man, and that he was not to be cooped up, like a

sheep in a pen, by man or devil. When these hot fits were over,

however, he would rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar

it behind him, like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the

terror which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen

his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it

were new raised from a basin.

"Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to abuse

your patience, there came a night when he made one of those drunken

sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when we went to

search for him, face downward in a little green-scummed pool, which

lay at the foot of the garden. There was no sign of any violence, and