Colonel Thorndyke's Secret

A. Henty G.

Description

An English soldier serving in India makes a grave error when he purloins a beautiful bracelet from a revered religious statue. As the treasure passes through the hands of several owners and caretakers, all who come into contact with it fall prey to violence and harm. Meanwhile, a pair of faithful believers make their way across Europe in pursuit of the sacred artifact.

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776674671
• Langue: English

Extrait

COLONEL THORNDYKE'S SECRET
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G. A. HENTY
 
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Colonel Thorndyke's Secret First published in 1898 Epub ISBN 978-1-77667-467-1 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77667-468-8 © 2014 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Publisher's Introduction Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X Chapter XI Chapter XII Chapter XIII Chapter XIV Chapter XV Chapter XVI Chapter XVII Chapter XVIII Chapter XIX Chapter XX Chapter XXI Chapter XXII
Publisher's Introduction
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"Colonel Thorndyke's Secret" is a story so far out of the ordinary thatit will not be inappropriate to speak a few words regarding the tale andits unusually successful author, Mr. George Alfred Henty.
The plot of the story hinges upon the possession of a valuable bracelet,of diamonds, stolen from a Hindoo idol by a British soldier in India.This bracelet falls into the possession of Colonel Thorndyke, who,shortly afterward, is sent home to England because of his wounds. Thesecret concerning the bracelet is told to the Colonel's brother, acountry squire, and the treasure is left to younger members of theThorndyke family.
As is well known today, the theft of anything from a Hindoo temple isconsidered an extraordinary crime in India, and when this occurs itbecomes a religious duty for one or more persons to hunt down the thiefand bring back the property taken from the heathen god.
The members of the Thorndyke family soon learn that they are beingwatched. But this is at a time when highwaymen are numerous in this partof England, and they cannot determine whether the work is that of the"knights of the roads" or that of the Lascars after the famous bracelet.A mysterious death follows, and the younger members of the family arealmost stunned, not knowing what will happen next. They would give thebracelet up, but do not know where it is hidden, the secret having beenin the sole possession of the member now dead. In this quandary theyoung hero of the tale rises to the occasion and determines to join theLondon police force and become a detective, with the hope of ultimatelyclearing up the mystery. Thrilling adventures of a most unusual kindfollow, and at last something of the mystery is explained. The braceletand other jewelry are unearthed, and it is decided to take the braceletto Amsterdam and offer it to the diamond cutters at that place. Butthe carrying of the bracelet is both difficult and dangerous. How themission is brought to a conclusion, and what part the Lascars played inthe final adventure, will be found in the pages that follow.
It can truthfully be said that Mr. Henty is easily the most popular ofall English story tellers, his books for boys enjoying a circulation offrom a hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand peryear. His tales are all clean, and although some are full of excitingsituations and thrilling to the last degree, they are of a high moraltone, while the English employed is of the best.
The present story is of peculiar value as giving a good insight intocountry and town life in England over a hundred years ago, when railwaysand telegraph lines were unknown and when the "knights of the road" wereapt to hold up any stagecoach that happened to come along. It also givesa truthful picture of the dark and underhanded work accomplished attimes by those of East Indian blood, especially when on what theyconsider a religious mission.
Chapter I
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Squire Thorndyke, of the Manor House of Crawley, was, on the 1st ofSeptember; 1782, walking up and down the little terrace in front of thequaint old house in an unusually disturbed mood. He was a man of fortythree or four, stoutly and strongly built, and inclined to be portly.Save the loss of his wife four years before, there had been but littleto ruffle the easy tenor of his life. A younger son, he had, at hismother's death, when he was three and twenty, come in for the smallestate at Crawley, which had been her jointure.
For ten years he had led a life resembling that of most of hisneighbors; he had hunted and shot, been a regular attendant at anymain of cocks that was fought within fifteen miles of Crawley, hadoccasionally been up to London for a week or two to see the gay doingsthere. Of an evening he had generally gone down to the inn, where hetalked over, with two or three of his own condition and a few of thebetter class of farmers, the news of the day, the war with the French,the troubles in Scotland, the alarming march of the Young Pretender, andhis defeat at Culloden—with no very keen interest in the result, forthe Southern gentry and yeomen, unlike those in the North, had no strongleanings either way. They had a dull dislike for Hanoverian George, butno great love for the exiled Stuarts, whose patron, the King of France,was an enemy of England.
More often, however, their thoughts turned upon local topics—theholding up of the coach of Sir James Harris or Squire Hamilton byhighwaymen; the affray between the French smugglers and the Revenue mennear Selsea Bill or Shoreham; the delinquencies of the poaching gangs;the heaviness of the taxes, and the price of corn.
At the age of thirty-three Squire Thorndyke married the daughter ofa neighboring landowner; a son was born and three years later Mrs.Thorndyke died. Since then the Squire had led a more retired life; hestill went down to smoke his pipe at the inn parlor, but he gave up hisvisits to town; and cock fights, and even bull baiting, were no longerattractions to him. He was known as a good landlord to the three or fourfarmers who held land under him; was respected and liked in the village,where he was always ready to assist in cases of real distress; was of aneasygoing disposition and on good terms with all his neighbors.
But today he was unusually disturbed in his mind. A messenger had riddenup two hours before with a letter from London. It was as follows:
"MY DEAR BROTHER JOHN:
"You will be surprised indeed at this letter from me, who, doubtless,you suppose to be fighting in India. I have done with fighting, andam nearly done with life. I was shot in the battle of Buxar, eighteenmonths ago. For a time the surgeons thought that it was going to befatal; then I rallied, and for some months it seemed that, in spite ofthe ball that they were never able to find, I was going to get over it,and should be fit for service again. Then I got worse; first it wasa cough, then the blood used to come up, and they said that the onlychance for me was to come home. I did not believe it would be of anyuse, but I thought that I would rather die at home than in India, sohome I came, and have now been a week in London.
"I thought at first of going down to my place at Reigate, and havingyou and your boy there with me; but as I have certainly not many weeks,perhaps not many days, to live, I thought I would come down to you; sothe day after you receive this letter I shall be with you. I shall notbring my little girl down; I have left her in good hands, and I shallonly bring with me my Hindoo servant. He will give you no trouble—a matto sleep on, and a little rice to eat, will satisfy his wants; and hewill take the trouble of me a good deal off your hands. He was a Sepoyin my regiment, and has always evinced the greatest devotion for me.More than once in battle he has saved my life, and has, for the lastthree years, been my servant, and has nursed me since I have been illas tenderly as a woman could have done. As I shall have time to tell youeverything when I arrive, I will say no more now."
The news had much affected John Thorndyke. His brother George was fiveyears his senior, and had gone out as a cadet in the company's servicewhen John was but thirteen, and this was his first home coming. Had itnot been for a portrait that had been taken of him in his uniform justbefore he sailed, John would have had but little remembrance of him. Inthat he was represented as a thin, spare youth, with an expression ofquiet determination in his face. From his father John had, of course,heard much about him.
"Nothing would satisfy him but to go out to India, John. There was, ofcourse, no occasion for it, as he would have this place after me—afine estate and a good position: what could he want more? But he was acurious fellow. Once he formed an opinion there was no persuading him tochange it. He was always getting ideas such as no one else would thinkof; he did not care for anything that other people cared for; neverhunted nor shot. He used to puzzle me altogether with his ways, and,'pon my word, I was not sorry when he said he would go to India, forthere was no saying how he might have turned out if he had stopped here.He never could do anything like anybody else: nothing that he could havedone would have surprised me.
"If he had told me that he intended to be a play actor, or a Jockey, ora private, or a book writer, I should not have been surprised. Upon myword, it was rather a relief to me when he said, 'I have made up my mindto go into the East India Service, father. I suppose you can get mea cadetship?' At least that was an honorable profession; and I knew,anyhow, that when he once said 'I have made up my mind, father,' noarguments would move him, and that if I did not get him a cadetship hewas perfectly capable of running away, going up to London, and enlistingin one of their white regiments."
John Thorndyke's own remembranc