thus far the treasure was ours. that same night we all three returned to london by the last train, the big black van containing the treasure being coupled with us at the rear, while just before two o’clock next morning i had the satisfaction of seeing the whole of it safely placed in my sitting-room at keppel street, much to mrs. richardson’s wonderment as to what the heavy sealed packages could contain.
usher constituted himself guard of the treasure, and early next morning i went to cornwall road and informed dorothy of our success and of her good fortune.
“it is true, paul, that i was fond of charles wooton, not knowing that he was my brother, and it is equally true that i induced him to accept the invitation to supper at kilburn which bennett gave him. but i never dreamed that those men intended to kill him until martin made me enter the room against my will, and i saw the poor fellow lying dead—stabbed to the heart. but i see it all now! i see why bennett and purvis were constantly declaring that i was morally responsible for his death. it was because purvis intended to compel me, by threats of exposing my secret, to marry him.”
i quite agreed with her that she had been the victim of a most clever and ingenious conspiracy, which had only failed because of our constant perseverance in the pursuit of the treasure; and then, as i bent to kiss my love upon the lips, i told her what was the absolute truth, namely, that i had all along believed in her innocence.
“i love you, dorothy,” i repeated. “i have loved you ever since that night when by the intercession of providence you saved my life. therefore, do not think that franklin’s revelations influence me in the least.”
“ah, paul, you are indeed generous!” she cried, springing up and clinging to me. “i—i feared that you would think ill of me—that you would believe i invited charles there knowing that he was to be their victim.”
“i am well aware that such was not a fact,” i said seriously, bending to kiss her ready lips again. “you met him, but did not know he was your brother—you knew nothing of the careful and ingenious plan of that man purvis who posed as your guardian, and who intended to marry you if occasion demanded.”
“they killed my brother,” she remarked reflectively, as though speaking to herself. “my poor brother, of whose very existence i was in ignorance!”
“they constituted you heiress on purpose!” i said. “but we shall be even with them before long, never fear. when did you see them last.”
“i saw bennett a week ago,” was her reply. “i met him quite accidentally in st. paul’s churchyard.”
i had previously related to her all that the rascally solicitor had told me regarding the fresh plot against my life, and she now urged me to be wary.
“i am only awaiting their appointment,” i said laughing. “it will be the last they will make outside a gaol.”
“but do be careful, paul,” she, urged, with all a woman’s solicitude for the safety of her lover. i told her, however, to have no fear.
two hours later she was at chelsea assisting us to open the great chests and examine their dazzling contents.
i had called at a famous dealer’s in piccadilly, and in confidence obtained the assistance of an expert, who now stood with us absolutely bewildered at the magnificence of the jewels. some of the gems, he declared, were without equal—the finest he had ever seen.
but i may, i think, pass over that morning spent in examining our find. let it suffice to say that the expert went back to piccadilly, declaring that the collection was worth a very considerable sum, and hoping that his firm might have the offer of purchasing a portion, if not the whole of it.
at three o’clock, after dorothy had lunched with usher and myself in mrs. richardson’s sitting-room, my own being filled to overflowing, the servant handed me a telegram, which read?—
“miss drummond has met with accident. wishes to see you immediately.—clark, 76, lavender road, battersea.”
it was the invitation into the fatal trap! i showed it to dorothy and to usher, and while the former grew serious and apprehensive, the latter laughed outright.
at four o’clock, accompanied by usher, reilly, and two police officers in plain clothes from the chelsea station, i reached the corner of lavender road and york road, where i took leave of my companions and went in search of no. 76. it was a small, eight-roomed house, one of a long row of similar dwellings, and when i knocked and inquired for mr. clark, the rough-looking lad who opened the door at once invited me inside.
the moment, however, that i stepped within the small hall i found myself seized by two men, who sprang from a room on the left; but almost before i had time to realize my situation i heard a scuffle behind, and saw that the detectives had entered behind me before the lad could close the door. an instant later reilly and usher were also on the scene, while bennett and harding, who had seized me, let go their hold and rushed to the back of the premises. it was an exciting moment.
we had taken the ruffians completely by surprise, yet bennett, with his usual cunning, tried to make good his escape. while harding ran out into the back yard and was captured by reilly and usher in the act of climbing the wall, bennett with fierce determination rushed up to the top of the house and out on the roof, followed by the police officers.
over the roofs he ran for a long distance as nimbly as a cat, followed closely by the detectives until they came to where two houses were divided by a narrow lane a few feet wide. then bennett, finding himself hard pressed and seeing the gulf before him, took a flying leap. his feet touched the gutter on the opposite side, and for a moment we thought he had escaped.
a second later, however, we heard a crack, and saw him clutch wildly at air as the gutter gave way beneath his weight, and he fell backwards to the ground, striking his skull heavily upon the paving.
the neighbourhood is thickly populated, and ere we could reach the spot a great crowd had collected. very soon, however, the truth was plain. i examined him quickly, and found his neck broken. death had been almost instantaneous.
hurriedly we returned to no. 76 amid great local commotion, and found that although purvis, who had been concealed in one of the upstair rooms, had succeeded in escaping, my friends were holding harding prisoner. an inspection of the house showed that preparations had been made to assassinate me—indeed, there was a large air-tight travelling chest already prepared to receive my body! they evidently intended to dispose of me in the same manner as charles wollerton.
harding was taken to the police station, and search among the left luggage at euston resulted in the discovery of the trunk with its gruesome contents, as franklin had confessed. purvis has, up to the present, successfully eluded the police, but is believed to be abroad. harding was eventually tried at the old bailey for being implicated in the murder and sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude, while the last heard of franklin was that he had been arrested a year ago in glasgow and sent to prison on a charge of forging cheques.
as for black bennett, the just hand of heaven had fallen swiftly upon him, rendering man’s justice unnecessary.
every fact that franklin had related we discovered to be true. the proofs held by mr. burrell at oundle proved most clearly that dorothy was the youngest descendant of old clement wollerton, hence none could dispute her splendid inheritance.
a few days after that exciting chase in battersea reilly, usher, and mr. staffurth assisted me to go through the treasure and check it by the long list written in the vellum book. we found, to our satisfaction, that it was intact.
within a month, with dorothy’s authority, we had disposed of all of it save a few of the most valuable ornaments, which she kept for her own use. the firm in piccadilly were the principal purchasers of the coins and diamonds, but much of the remainder was sold by auction at christie’s and other sale-rooms and realized very high prices, while a quantity of it has now found its way into the british museum and other similar institutions.
the chestful of gold coins bequeathed to me as finder realized a little over ￡1,000, and out of this i paid for the dilapidations at caldecott manor—which is, by the way, now reoccupied by a highly respected gentleman and his wife—and made presents to my friends, job seal included, augmented, of course, by dorothy herself.
and the rest? need i tell you? i think not. all i shall say further is that within two months of our sudden fortune dorothy, whom i had loved long before i knew her to be heiress of the treasure, married me at hampstead, where we now live—in fitzjohn’s avenue, to be exact—leading an idyllic life of peace and love. if you pass up the thoroughfare in question you will probably notice the name, “mr. pickering, surgeon,” upon a brass plate, for although the sum realized by the sale of the jewels has provided us with a comfortable income for life, yet i am not by any means an idle man.
so careful have we been to preserve our secret that to those who know us and may chance to read this narrative, the truth will come as an entire surprise. our love is perfect, for surely no couple could be happier than we are. when at evening i sit at the fireside gazing at the sweet, smiling face of my devoted wife, i often reflect upon those dark days of anxiety and despair—the days of my love’s thraldom and of my own desperate endeavour to solve the mystery. before me there hang, in black frames, the parchment with the seven signatures and the ancient diploma with leaden seal which i discovered with it, and whenever i look up at them my memory runs back to the potency of that simple number three—that numeral scrawled in faded ink which revealed to us “the tickencote treasure.”
