by this time, but he was so frightfully
reduced that we could not bring him round. He was lying in every respect
like one already dead, except for his faint breathing, when the Russian
left the tent for a moment, and I took his place at the head of the bed.
Rung was standing with folded arms a yard or two away. None of the other
native servants could be persuaded to enter the tent, so frightened were
they of catching the complaint. Suddenly my poor master opened his eyes,
and his lips moved. I put my ear to his mouth. 'The diamond,' he
whispered. 'Take it--mother--give my love.' Not a word more on earth,
your ladyship. His limbs stiffened; his head fell back; he gave a great
sigh and died. I gently closed the eyes that could see no more, and left
the tent crying.

"Your ladyship, we buried Captain Chillington by torchlight four hours
later. We dug his grave deep in a corner of the jungle, and there we
left him to his last sleep. Over his grave we piled a heap of stones, as
I have read that they used to do in the old times over the grave of a
chief. It was all we could do.

"About an hour later M. Platzoff came to me. 'I shall start before
daybreak for Chinapore,' he said, 'with one elephant and a couple of
men. I will take with me the news of my poor friend's untimely fate,
and you can come on with the luggage and other effects in the ordinary
way. You will find me at Chinapore when you reach there.' Next morning I
found that he was gone.

"What my dear master had said with his last breath about a diamond
puzzled me. I could only conclude that amongst his effects there must be
some valuable stone of which he wished special care to be taken, and
which he desired to be sent home to you, madam, in England. I knew
nothing of any such stone, and I considered it beyond my position to
search for it among his luggage. I decided that when I got to Chinapore
I would give his message to the Colonel, and leave that gentleman to
take such steps in the matter as he might think best.

"I had hardly settled all this in my mind when Rung Budruck came to me.
'The Russian sahib has gone: I have something to tell you,' he said,
only he spoke in broken English. 'Yesterday, just after the sahib
Captain was dead, the Russian came back. You had left the tent, and I
was sitting on the ground behind the Captain's big trunk, the lid of
which was open. I was sitting with my chin in my hand, very sad at
heart, when the Russian came in. He look