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。“
“Givetheboxtome。“Pughputtheboxtohisear。Hetapped。
“Itsoundstomeliketheechoingtick,tickofsomegreatbeetle;
likethesortofnoisewhichadeathwatchmakes,youknow。“
TrustPughtofindaremarkableexplanationforasimplefact;iftheexplanationleanstowardthesupernatural,somuchthemoresatisfactorytoPugh。Iknewbetter。
“Thesoundwhichyouhearismerelythethrobbingorthetremblingofthemechanismwithwhichitisintendedthattheboxshouldbeopened。Themechanismisplacedjustwhereyouaretappingitwiththehammer。Everytapcausesittojar。“
“Itsoundstomelikethetickingofadeathwatch。However,onsuchsubjects,Tress,Iknowwhatyouare。“
“MydearPugh,giveitanextrahardtap,andyouwillsee。“
Hegaveitanextrahardtap。Themomenthehaddoneso,hestarted。
“I’vedoneitnow。“
“Whathaveyoudone?“
“Brokensomething,Ifancy。“Helistenedintently,withhiseartothebox。“No——itseemsallright。AndyetIcouldhaveswornI
haddamagedsomething;Ihearditsmash。“
“Givemethebox。“Hegaveitme。Inmyturn,Ilistened。I
shookthebox。Pughmusthavebeenmistaken。Nothingrattled;
therewasnotasound;theboxwasasemptyasbefore。Igaveasmarttapwiththehammer,asPughhaddone。Thentherecertainlywasacurioussound。Tomyear,itsoundedlikethesmashingofglass。“Iwonderifthereisanythingfragileinsideyourpreciouspuzzle,Pugh,and,ifso,ifweareshiveringitbydegrees?“
II
“WhatISthatnoise?“
Ilayinbedinthatcuriousconditionwhichisbetweensleepandwaking。When,atlast,IKNEWthatIwasawake,Iaskedmyselfwhatitwasthathadwokeme。SuddenlyIbecameconsciousthatsomethingwasmakingitselfaudibleinthesilenceofthenight。
ForsomesecondsIlayandlistened。ThenIsatupinbed。
“WhatISthatnoise?“
Itwaslikethetick,tickofsomelargeandunusuallyclear-tonedclock。Itmighthavebeenaclock,haditnotbeenthatthesoundwasvaried,everyhalfdozenticksorso,byasortofstifledscreech,suchasmighthavebeenutteredbysomesmallcreatureinanextremityofanguish。Igotoutofbed;itwasridiculoustothinkofsleepduringthecontinuationofthatuncannyshrieking。
Istruckalight。Thesoundseemedtocomefromtheneighborhoodofmydressing-table。Iwenttothedressing-table,thelightedmatchinmyhand,and,asIdidso,myeyesfellonPugh’smysteriousbox。Thatsameinstantthereissued,fromthebowelsofthebox,amoreuncomfortablescreechthananyIhadpreviouslyheard。IttookmesocompletelybysurprisethatIletthematchfallfrommyhandtothefloor。Theroomwasindarkness。I
stood,Iwillnotsaytrembling,listening——consideringtheirvolume——totheEERIESTshrieksIeverheard。Allatoncetheyceased。Thencamethetick,tick,tickagain。Istruckanothermatchandlitthegas。
Pughhadlefthispuzzleboxbehindhim。Wehaddoneallwecould,together,tosolvethepuzzle。HehadleftitbehindtoseewhatI
coulddowithitalone。SomuchhaditengrossedmyattentionthatIhadevenbroughtitintomybedroom,inorderthatImight,beforeretiringtorest,makeafinalattemptatthesolutionofthemystery。NOWwhatpossessedthething?
AsIstood,andlooked,andlistened,onethingbegantobecleartome,thatsomesortofmachineryhadbeensetinmotioninsidethebox。Howithadbeensetinmotionwasanothermatter。Buttheboxhadbeensubjectedtosomuchhandling,tosuchpressingandsuchhammering,thatitwasnotstrangeif,afterall,PughorIhadunconsciouslyhituponthespringwhichsetthewholethinggoing。Possiblythemechanismhadgotsorustythatithadrefusedtoactatonce。Ithadhungfire,andonlyaftersomehourshadsomethingorothersettheimprisonedmotivepowerfree。
Butwhataboutthescreeching?Couldtherebesomelivingcreatureconcealedwithinthebox?WasIlisteningtothecriesofsomesmallanimalinagony?Momentaryreflectionsuggestedthattheexplanationoftheonethingwastheexplanationoftheother。
Rust!——therewasthemystery。Thesamerustwhichhadpreventedthemechanismfromactingatoncewascausingthescreechingnow。
Theuncannysoundswerecausedbynothingmorenorlessthanthewantofadroportwoofoil。SuchanexplanationwouldnothavesatisfiedPugh,itsatisfiedme。
Pickingupthebox,Iplacedittomyear。
“Iwonderhowlongthislittleperformanceisgoingtocontinue。
Andwhatisgoingtohappenwhenitisgoodenoughtocease?I
hope“——anuncomfortablethoughtoccurredtome——“IhopePughhasn’tpickedupsomepleasantlittlenoveltyinthewayofaninfernalmachine。Itwouldbeafirst-ratejokeifheandIhadbeenendeavoringtosolvethepuzzleofhowtosetitgoing。“
Idon’tmindowningthatasthisreflectioncrossedmymindI
replacedPugh’spuzzleonthedressing-table。Theideadidnotcommenditselftomeatall。Theboxevidentlycontainedsomecuriousmechanism。Itmightbemorecuriousthancomfortable。
Possiblysomeagreeablelittledeviceinclockwork。Thetick,tick,ticksuggestedclockworkwhichhadbeenplannedtogoacertaintime,andthen——then,forallIknew,igniteanexplosive,and——blowup。ItwouldbeacharmingsolutiontothepuzzleifitweretoexplodewhileIstoodthere,inmynightshirt,lookingon。
Itistruethattheboxweighedverylittle。Probably,asIhavesaid,thewholeaffairwouldnothaveturnedthescaleatacoupleofounces。Butthenitsverylightnessmighthavebeenpartoftheingeniousinventor’slittlegame。Thereareexplosiveswithwhichonecanworkaverysatisfactoryamountofdamagewithconsiderablylessthanacoupleofounces。
WhileIwashesitating——Iownit!——whetherIhadnotbetterimmersePugh’spuzzleinacanofwater,orthrowitoutofthewindow,orcalldownBobwitharequesttoatonceremoveittohisapartment,boththetick,tick,tick,andthescreechingceased,andallwithintheboxwasstill。IfitWASgoingtoexplode,itwasnowornever。InstinctivelyImovedinthedirectionofthedoor。
Iwaitedwithacertainsenseofanxiety。Iwaitedinvain。
Nothinghappened,notevenarenewalofthesound。
“IwishPughhadkepthispreciouspuzzleathome。Thissortofthingtriesone’snerves。“
WhenIthoughtthatIperceivedthatnothingseemedlikelytohappen,Ireturnedtotheneighborhoodofthetable。Ilookedattheboxaskance。Itookitupgingerly。SomethingmightgooffatanymomentforallIknew。ItwouldbetoomuchofajokeifPugh’spreciouspuzzleexplodedinmyhand。Ishookitdoubtfully;
nothingrattled。Iheldittomyear。Therewasnotasound。
Whathadtakenplace?Hadtheclockworkrundown,andwasthemachinearrangedwithsuchadiabolicalingenuitythatacertainintervalwasrequired,aftertheclockworkhadrundown,beforeanexplosioncouldoccur?Orhadrustcausedthemechanismtoagainhangfire?
“Aftermakingallthatcommotionthethingmightatleastcomeopen。“Ibangedtheboxviciouslyagainstthecornerofthetable。
IfeltthatIwouldalmostratherthatanexplosionshouldtakeplacethanthatnothingshouldoccur。Onedoesnotcaretobedisturbedfromone’ssoundslumberinthesmallhoursofthemorningforatrifle。
“I’vehalfamindtogetahammer,andtry,astheysayinthecookerybooks,anotherway。“
UnfortunatelyIhadpromisedPughtoabstainfromusingforce。I
mighthaveshiveredtheboxopenwithmyhammer,andthenexplainedthatithadfallen,orgottrodupon,orsatupon,orsomething,andsogotshattered,onlyIwasafraidthatPughwouldnotbelieveme。Themanishimselfsuchanuntruthfulmanthatheisinachronicstateofsuspicionaboutthetruthfulnessofothers。
“Well,ifyou’renotgoingtoblowup,oropen,orsomething,I’llsaygoodnight。“
Igavetheboxafinalrapwithmyknucklesandafinalshake,replaceditonthetable,putoutthegas,andreturnedtobed。
Iwasjustsinkingagainintoslumber,whenthatboxbeganagain。
ItwastruethatPughhadpurchasedthepuzzle,butitwasevidentthatthewholeenjoymentofthepurchasewasdestinedtobemine。
Itwasuselesstothinkofsleepwhilethatperformancewasgoingon。Isatupinbedoncemore。