Treasure Hunt Tales: The Star of the South & Captain Antifer. Жюль Верн

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СКАЧАТЬ relative in the line of succession than you?”

      “None. Kamylk Pasha has no heir but me. Only, where is the inheritance?”

      “Here—at your Excellency’s disposal.”

      Saouk grasped at the envelope handed him by the notary.

      “What is in this envelope?” he asked.

      “The will of Kamylk Pasha.”

      “And how did it get into your hands?”

      “It reached me a few years after he was imprisoned in the fortress at Cairo.”

      “How long ago?”

      “Twenty years.”

      “Twenty years!” exclaimed Saouk. “And he has been dead ten years now—and you have waited—”

      “Read, Excellency.”

      Saouk read the writing on the envelope. It said that this will was not to be opened until ten years after the testator’s death.

      “Kamylk Pasha died in 1852,” said the notary. “It is now 1862, and that is why I sent for your Excellency.”

      “Cursed formalist!” exclaimed Saouk. “For ten years I ought to have been in possession.”

      “If the will is in your favour?” suggested the notary.

      “In my favour. Who else can there be? I will soon know—”

      And he was about to break the seal when Ben Omar stopped him.

      “In your own interest, Excellency, it had better be done in the proper form, in the presence of witnesses.”

      And opening the door Ben Omar introduced two merchants of the neighbourhood, whom he had asked to attend. These were to testify that the envelope was intact, and that it had been opened in their presence.

      The will was not very long, it was in French and as follows:—

      “I appoint as my executor Ben Omar, notary of Alexandria, to whom I leave a commission of one per centum on my fortune in gold, diamonds and precious stones, of the estimated value of four million pounds sterling. In the month of September, 1831, three casks containing this treasure were buried in a hole dug at the southern point of a certain islet. Of this islet it will be easy to discover the position by combining the longitude of fifty-four degrees fifty-seven minutes east, with a latitude secretly sent in 1842 to Thomas Antifer, of St. Malo, in France. Ben Omar in person is to take this longitude of fifty-four degrees fifty-seven minutes east to the said Thomas Antifer, or his nearest heir. But he is to accompany the said heir in the search for the discovery of the treasure, which is buried at the base of a rock marked with the double K of my name. To the exclusion of my unworthy cousin Mourad, and his still more unworthy son Saouk, Ben Omar will hasten to put himself in communication with Thomas Antifer, or his direct heirs, and with him follow the formal instructions that will be found in the course of the said search. Such is my last will, and I desire that it shall be respected in all its bearings and consequences.

      “Written this 9th of February, 1842, in the prison at Cairo, by my own hand.

      “Kamylk Pasha.”

      We need not dwell on the reception given by Saouk to this curious will, nor to the agreeable surprise manifested by Ben Omar at the one per cent, on four millions which was to come to him on handing over the treasure. But the treasure had to be found, and the only way to discover the position of the islet was by combining the longitude given in the will with the latitude known only to Thomas Antifer.

      Saouk immediately devised a scheme, and Ben Omar, under terrible threats, became his accomplice in it. They soon discovered that Thomas Antifer had died in 1854, leaving an only son. To this son they would go, and by skilful management obtain from him the secret of the latitude and then they would take possession of the fortune, and Ben Omar should have his commission.

      This scheme Saouk and the notary set about without delay. They left Alexandria, landed at Marseilles, took the Paris express, and then went on to St. Malo, where they had arrived that morning.

      Neither Saouk nor Ben Omar expected that there would be any difficulty in obtaining from Antifer the letter, of which they knew the value, and which contained the precious latitude—and they were prepared to buy it if necessary. We know how the attempt had failed. We shall not be astonished, therefore, at the irritation which his Excellency displayed, at his endeavouring to hold Ben Omar responsible for his ill-success, and at the noisy scene in the hotel, from which the unfortunate notary feared he would never emerge alive.

      “Yes,” said Saouk, “it is your bungling that has caused it all! You did not know what you were about! You let yourself be played with by this sailor, you, a notary! But do not forget what I told you! Woe to you if Kamylk’s millions escape me!”

      “I swear to you, Excellency—”

      “And I swear to you, that if I do not attain my object you shall pay for it, and pay well!”

      And Ben Omar knew only too well that Saouk was the man to keep his word.

      “You must remember, Excellency, that this sailor is not one of those miserable fellahs, easily deceived and easily frightened”

      “No matter.”

      “No! He is a violent man, who will listen to nothing—”

      He might have added, “a man like you,” but he took care not to complete the sentence in that fashion.

      “I think,” he continued, “we shall have to give up—”

      “Give up!” exclaimed Saouk, slapping the table, “give up four millions?”

      “No, your Excellency; give up—let the Breton know—the longitude the will orders us to give him.”

      “For him to take advantage of it, imbecile; for him to unearth the millions!”

      Anger is a bad councillor, and this Saouk, who was not destitute of intelligence or astuteness, finally came to think. He calmed down as much as he could, and thought of the proposal submitted by Ben Omar. It was certain that nothing would be got from Antifer by stratagem, and that some other scheme must be thought of.

      The plan agreed upon was this. His Excellency and his very humble servant would call in the morning on Captain Antifer, give him the longitude and learn from him in exchange what was the latitude. When the information was obtained Saouk would endeavour to forestall the sailor, and if he could not do this he would accompany Antifer during the search and endeavour to carry off the treasure. If, as was probable, the islet was situated in some distant part of the world, the plan had many chances of success, and the affair would end to Saouk’s advantage.

      When this plan had been definitely agreed upon Saouk added,—

      “I rely on you, Ben Omar, to be straightforward; if not—”

      “You can rely on me, your Excellency; but you promised me my commission.”

      “Yes, for according to the will the commission is due to you—on the express СКАЧАТЬ