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Page 108
P.S.--Just as I had written the last word, a Kafir came up my avenue
of orange trees, carrying a letter in a cleft stick, which he had
brought from the post. It turned out to be from Sir Henry, and as it
speaks for itself I give it in full.
October 1, 1884.
Brayley Hall, Yorkshire.
My Dear Quatermain,
I send you a line a few mails back to say that the three of us,
George, Good, and myself, fetched up all right in England. We got
off the boat at Southampton, and went up to town. You should have
seen what a swell Good turned out the very next day, beautifully
shaved, frock coat fitting like a glove, brand new eye-glass,
etc., etc. I went and walked in the park with him, where I met
some people I know, and at once told them the story of his
"beautiful white legs."
He is furious, especially as some ill-natured person has printed
it in a Society paper.
To come to business, Good and I took the diamonds to Streeter's to
be valued, as we arranged, and really I am afraid to tell you what
they put them at, it seems so enormous. They say that of course it
is more or less guess-work, as such stones have never to their
knowledge been put on the market in anything like such quantities.
It appears that (with the exception of one or two of the largest)
they are of the finest water, and equal in every way to the best
Brazilian stones. I asked them if they would buy them, but they
said that it was beyond their power to do so, and recommended us
to sell by degrees, over a period of years indeed, for fear lest
we should flood the market. They offer, however, a hundred and
eighty thousand for a very small portion of them.
You must come home, Quatermain, and see about these things,
especially if you insist upon making the magnificent present of
the third share, which does /not/ belong to me, to my brother
George. As for Good, he is /no good/. His time is too much
occupied in shaving, and other matters connected with the vain
adorning of the body. But I think he is still down on his luck
about Foulata. He told me that since he had been home he hadn't
seen a woman to touch her, either as regards her figure or the
sweetness of her expression.
I want you to come home, my dear old comrade, and to buy a house
near here. You have done your day's work, and have lots of money
now, and there is a place for sale quite close which would suit
you admirably. Do come; the sooner the better; you can finish
writing the story of our adventures on board ship. We have refused
to tell the tale till it is written by you, for fear lest we shall
not be believed. If you start on receipt of this you will reach
here by Christmas, and I book you to stay with me for that. Good
is coming, and George; and so, by the way, is your boy Harry
(there's a bribe for you). I have had him down for a week's
shooting, and like him. He is a cool young hand; he shot me in the
leg, cut out the pellets, and then remarked upon the advantages of
having a medical student with every shooting party!
Good-bye, old boy; I can't say any more, but I know that you will
come, if it is only to oblige
Your sincere friend,
Henry Curtis.
P.S.--The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva have now
been put up in the hall here, over the pair of buffalo horns you
gave me, and look magnificent; and the axe with which I chopped
off Twala's head is fixed above my writing-table. I wish that we
could have managed to bring away the coats of chain armour. Don't
lose poor Foulata's basket in which you brought away the diamonds.
H.C.
To-day is Tuesday. There is a steamer going on Friday, and I really
think that I must take Curtis at his word, and sail by her for
England, if it is only to see you, Harry, my boy, and to look after
the printing of this history, which is a task that I do not like to
trust to anybody else.
ALLAN QUATERMAIN.
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