y sword thrust.' Said I,
'But how did the Russian know that Captain Chillington carried the
diamond about his person?' 'One night when the Captain had had too much
wine he showed the diamond to his friend,' answered Rung. Said I, 'But
how does it happen, Rung, that you know this?' Rung, smiling and putting
his finger tips together, replied, 'How does it happen that I know so
much about you?' And then he told me a lot of things about myself that I
thought no soul in India knew. It was just wonderful how he did it. 'So
it is: let that be sufficient,' he finished by saying. 'Why did you not
tell me till after the Russian had gone away that you saw him steal the
diamond?' said I. 'If you had told me at the time I could have charged
him with it.' 'You are ignorant,' said Rung; 'you are little more than a
child. The Russian sahib had the evil eye. Had I crossed his purpose
before his face he would have cursed me while he looked at me, and I
should have withered away and died. He has got the diamond, and only by
magic can it ever be recovered from him.'

"Your ladyship and miss, I hope I am not tedious nor wandering from the
point. It will be sufficient to say that when I got down to Chinapore I
found that M. Platzoff had indeed been there, but only just long enough
to see the Colonel and give him an account of Captain Chillington's
death, after which he had at once engaged a palanquin and bearers and
set out with all speed for Bombay. It was now my turn to see the
Colonel, and after I had given over into his hands all my dead master's
property that I had brought with me from the Hills, I told him the story
of the diamond as Rung had told it to me. He was much struck by it, and
ordered me to take Rung to him the next morning. But that very night
Rung disappeared, and was never seen in the camp again. Whether he was
frightened at what he called the Russian's evil eye--frightened that
Platzoff could blight him even from a distance, I have no means of
knowing. In any case, gone he was; and from that day to this I have
never set eyes on him. Well, the Colonel said he would take a note of
what I had told him about the diamond, and that I must leave the matter
entirely in his hands.

"Your ladyship, a fortnight after that the Colonel shot himself.

"To make short a long story--we got a fresh Colonel, and were removed to
another part of the country; and there, a few weeks later, I was
knocked down by fever, and was a long time befo