第51章

ThewordsweresofaintlyprintedthatitwasnotsurprisingthatI

hadnotnoticedthematfirst。Pughexplained。

“Iobservedthatboxonatrayoutsideasecond-handfurnitureshop。Itstruckmyeye。Itookitup。Iexaminedit。Iinquiredoftheproprietoroftheshopinwhatthepuzzlelay。Herepliedthatthatwasmorethanhecouldtellme。Hehimselfhadmadeseveralattemptstoopenthebox，andallofthemhadfailed。I

purchasedit。Itookithome。Ihavetried，andIhavefailed。I

amaware，Tress，ofhowyouprideyourselfuponyouringenuity。I

cannotdoubtthat，ifyoutry，youwillnotfail。“

WhilePughwasprosing，Iwasexaminingthebox。Itwasatleastwellmade。Itweighedcertainlyundertwoounces。Istruckitwithmyknuckles；itsoundedhollow。Therewasnohinge；nothingofanykindtoshowthatiteverhadbeenopened，or，forthematterofthat，thatitevercouldbeopened。ThemoreIexaminedthething，themoreitwhettedmycuriosity。Thatitcouldbeopened，andinsomeingeniousmanner，Imadenodoubt——buthow？

Theboxwasnotanewone。AtaroughguessIshouldsaythatithadbeenaboxforagoodhalfcentury；therewerecertainsignsofageaboutitwhichcouldnotescapeapracticedeye。Haditremainedunopenedallthattime？Whenopened，whatwouldbefoundinside？ItSOUNDEDhollow；probablynothingatall——whocouldtell？

Itwasformedofsmallpiecesofinlaidwood。Severalwoodshadbeenused；someofthemwerestrangetome。Theywereofdifferentcolors；itwasprettyobviousthattheymustallofthemhavebeenhardwoods。Thepieceswereofvariousshapes——hexagonal，octagonal，triangular，square，oblong，andevencircular。Theprocessofinlayingthemhadbeenbeautifullydone。Sonicelyhadthepartsbeenjoinedthatthelinesofmeetingweredifficulttodiscoverwiththenakedeye；theyhadbeenjoinedsolid，sotospeak。Itwasanexcellentexampleofmarquetry。Ihadbeenover-

hastyinmydeprecation；IowedasmuchtoPugh。

“ThisboxofyoursisbetterworthlookingatthanIfirstsupposed。Isittobesold？“

“No，itisnottobesold。Nor“——he“fixed“mewithhisspectacles——“isittobegivenaway。Ihavebroughtittoyouforthesimplepurposeofascertainingifyouhaveingenuityenoughtoopenit。“

“Iwillengagetoopenitintwoseconds——withahammer。“

“Idaresay。Iwillopenitwithahammer。Thethingistoopenitwithout。“

“Letmesee。“Ibegan，withtheaidofamicroscope，toexaminetheboxmoreclosely。“Iwillgiveyouonepieceofinformation，Pugh。UnlessIammistaken，thesecretliesinoneoftheselittlepiecesofinlaidwood。Youpushit，oryoupressit，orsomething，andthewholeaffairfliesopen。“

“Suchwasmyownfirstconviction。Iamnotsosureofitnow。I

havepressedeveryseparatepieceofwood；Ihavetriedtomoveeachpieceineverydirection。Noresulthasfollowed。Mytheorywasahiddenspring。“

“Buttheremustbeahiddenspringofsomesort，unlessyouaretoopenitbyamereexerciseofforce。Isupposetheboxisempty。“

“Ithoughtitwasatfirst，butnowIamnotsosureofthateither。Italldependsonthepositioninwhichyouholdit。Holditinthisposition——likethis——closetoyourear。Haveyouasmallhammer？“Itookasmallhammer。“Tapitsoftly，withthehammer。Don’tyounoticeasortofreverberationwithin？“

Pughwasright，therecertainlywassomethingwithin；somethingwhichseemedtoechobackmytapping，almostasifitwerealivingthing。Imentionedthis，toPugh。

“Butyoudon’tthinkthatthereissomethingaliveinsidethebox？

Therecan’tbe。Theboxmustbeairtight，probablyasmuchair-

tightasanexhaustedreceiver。“

“Howdoweknowthat？Howcanwetellthatnominuteintersticeshavebeenleftfortheexpresspurposeofventilation？“I

continuedtappingwiththehammer。Inoticedonepeculiarity，thatitwasonlywhenIheldtheboxinaparticularposition，andtappedatacertainspot，therecametheansweringtapsfromwithin。“Itellyouwhatitis，Pugh，whatIhearisthereverberationofsomemachinery。“

“Doyouthinkso？“

“I’msureofit。“

“Givethe

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