Indian Army
The red dust of the Raj settles deep in the fog of Baker Street.
Service in India lies behind The Sign of the Four. Major John Sholto and Captain Morstan were guards at the convict barracks in the Andaman Islands, where the prisoner Jonathan Small found out that they had lost money playing cards. Small made a deal with the two officers: Sholto would recover a hidden treasure and send a boat for Morstan, Small and Small's Sikh partners so that they could all meet and divide it.
Lore & Background
Sholto instead stole the treasure for himself and went back to England after inheriting a fortune from his uncle. Morstan followed to demand his half; in the quarrel he suffered a heart attack and died, striking his head on the treasure box as he fell, and Small vowed vengeance on Sholto. Colonel Sebastian Moran is another man shaped by India: formerly of the 1st Bangalore Pioneers (Madras), he wrote Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas.
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