t, I resolved to watch him the more closely. Knowing what I
did, and guessing the rest, I had no intention of allowing him to give
me the slip. For several days I watched him in this fashion. Then I
noticed that his visits to the village became less and less frequent,
and, when he did put in an appearance there, he invariably talked in
such a way as to lead people to suppose that he had quite settled down
in the neighbourhood, and had not the least intention of removing
elsewhere for many a long day to come. Being aware of his character,
this in itself was sufficient to put me on my guard.

"A night or two later, and fortunately when I was spending the evening
with him, the climax came. The old fellow had, or pretended to have,
taken a great fancy to me, and more than once he reiterated his desire
that I should accept the diamond he had first offered to me. I
steadfastly refused to do so, however, and could see that my decision
increased his good opinion of me. On this occasion it was nearly ten
o'clock before I left the hut. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and
so still that you could have heard a leaf drop a hundred yards away. It
was his own proposal that he should walk a portion of the way with me.
We therefore set out, and had proceeded about half the distance, when
there was a loud report of a rifle in the bushes close beside us, and a
second later he uttered a cry and fell into my arms. That the shot was
intended for myself, and that it was fired by one of my enemies in the
village, I had not the least doubt. Bending over the old fellow, I asked
him how he felt, but he did not answer. Then, carrying him as best I
could, I retraced my steps as quickly as possible. When I reached the
hut I laid him upon his bed, and, by the light of a lamp, endeavoured to
discover the nature of his wound. The bullet, it appeared, had
penetrated his right breast, and, from such knowledge of gun wounds as I
possessed, it was evident to me that it was a fatal one. He was
breathing heavily and with a considerable amount of difficulty, and must
have realised that it was all up with him, for, when he spoke, he said
as much.

"'Lay me down on the bed,' he said. 'They've got me this time, the
cowardly dogs! If only I had been able to get away from here safe and
sound, they'd have treated me a bit different when they next met me. In
three months' time, if all had gone well, I should have been one of the
richest men in the world. But I s