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。