“ItstrikesmethatthepuzzleconsistsinfindingouthowitispossibletogotosleepwithPugh’spurchaseinyourbedroom。Thisisfarbetterthantheold-fashionedprescriptionofcatsonthetiles。“
　　Itstruckmethenoisewasdistinctlylouderthanbefore；thisappliedbothtothetick，tick，tick，andthescreeching。
　　“Possibly，“Itoldmyself，asIrelightedthegas，“theexplosionistocomeoffthistime。“
　　Iturnedtolookatthebox。Therecouldbenodoubtaboutit；thenoisewaslouder。And，ifIcouldtrustmyeyes，theboxwasmoving——givingaseriesoflittlejumps。Thismighthavebeenanopticaldelusion，butitseemedtomethatateachticktheboxgavealittlebound。Duringthescreeches——whichsoundedmorelikethecriesofananimalinanagonyofpaineventhanbefore——ifitdidnottiltitselffirstononeend，andthenonanother，Ishallneverbewillingtotrusttheevidenceofmyowneyesagain。Andsurelytheboxhadincreasedinsize；Icouldhaveswornnotonlythatithadincreased，butthatitwasincreasing，evenasIstoodtherelookingon。Ithadgrown，andstillwasgrowing，bothbroader，andlonger，anddeeper。Pugh，ofcourse，wouldhaveattributedittosupernaturalagency；thereneverwasamanwithsuchanoseforaghost。Icouldpicturehimoccupyingmyposition，shiveringinhisnightshirt，ashebeheldthatmiracletakingplacebeforehiseyes。Thesolutionwhichatoncesuggesteditselftome——andwhichwouldNEVERhavesuggesteditselftoPugh！——
　　wasthattheboxwasfashioned，asitwere，inlayers，andthattheingeniousmechanismitcontainedwasforcingthesidesatoncebothupwardandoutward。Itookitinmyhand。Icouldfeelsomethingstrikingagainstthebottomofthebox，likethetap，tap，tappingofatinyhammer。
　　“ThisisaprettypuzzleofPugh’s。Hewouldsaythatthatisthetappingofadeathwatch。FormypartIhavenotmuchfaithindeathwatches，ethocgenusomne，butitcertainlyisacurioustapping；Iwonderwhatisgoingtohappennext？“
　　Apparentlynothing，exceptacontinuationofthosemysterioussounds。ThattheboxhadincreasedinsizeIhad，andhave，nodoubtwhatever。Ishouldsaythatithadincreasedagoodinchineverydirection，atleasthalfaninchwhileIhadbeenlookingon。
　　ButwhileIstoodlookingitsgrowthwassuddenlyandperceptiblystayed；itceasedtomove。Onlythenoisecontinued。
　　“Iwonderhowlongitwillbebeforeanythingworthhappeningdoeshappen！Isupposesomethingisgoingtohappen；therecan’tbeallthisto-dofornothing。Ifitisanythingintheinfernalmachineline，andthereisgoingtobeanexplosion，Imightaswellbeheretoseeit。IthinkI’llhaveapipe。“
　　Iputonmydressing-gown。Ilitmypipe。Isatandstaredatthebox。IdaresayIsatthereforquitetwentyminuteswhen，asbefore，withoutanysortofwarning，thesoundwasstilled。Itssuddencessationratherstartledme。
　　“Hasthemechanismagainhungfire？Or，thistime，istheexplosioncomingoff？“Itdidnotcomeoff；nothingcameoff。
　　“Isn’ttheboxevengoingtoopen？“
　　Itdidnotopen。Therewassimplysilenceallatonce，andthatwasall。Isatthereinexpectationforsomemomentslonger。ButIsatfornothing。Irose。Itooktheboxinmyhand。Ishookit。
　　“ThispuzzleISapuzzle。“Iheldtheboxfirsttooneear，thentotheother。Igaveitseveralsharprapswithmyknuckles。
　　Therewasnotanansweringsound，noteventhesortofreverberationwhichPughandIhadnoticedatfirst。Itseemedhollowerthanever。Itwasasthoughthesouloftheboxwasdead。
　　“IsupposeifIputyoudown，andextinguishthegasandreturntobed，inabouthalfanhourorso，justasIamdroppingofftosleep，theperformancewillberecommenced。Perhapsthethirdtimewillbelucky。“
　　ButIwasmistaken——therewasnothirdtime。WhenIreturnedtobedthattimeIreturnedtosleep，andIwasallowedtosleep；
　　therewasnocontinuationoftheperformance，atleastsofarasI
　　know。FornosoonerwasIoncemorebetweenthesheetsthanIwasseizedwithanirresistibledrowsiness，adrowsinesswhichsomasteredmethatI——Iimagineitmusthavebeeninstantly——sankintoslumberwhichlastedtilllongafterdayhaddawned。WhetherornotanymoremysterioussoundsissuedfromthebowelsofPugh’spuzzleismorethanIcantell。Iftheydid，theydidnotsucceedinrousingme。
　　Andyet，whenatlastIdidawake，Ihadasortofconsciousnessthatmywakinghadbeencausedbysomethingstrange。WhatitwasI
　　couldnotsurmise。MyownimpressionwasthatIhadbeenawakenedbythetouchofaperson’shand。Butthatimpressionmusthavebeenamistakenone，because，asIcouldeasilyseebylookingroundtheroom，therewasnooneintheroomtotouchme。
　　Itwasbroaddaylight。Ilookedatmywatch；itwasnearlyeleveno’clock。Iamaprettylatesleeperasarule，butIdonotusuallysleepaslateasthat。ThatscoundrelBobwouldletmesleepalldaywithoutthinkingitnecessarytocallme。IwasjustabouttospringoutofbedwiththeintentionofringingthebellsothatImightgiveBobapieceofmymindforallowingmetosleepsolate，whenmyglancefellonthedressing-tableonwhich，thenightbefore，IhadplacedPugh’spuzzle。Ithadgone！
　　ItsabsencesotookmebysurprisethatIrantothetable。ItHAD
　　gone。Butithadnotgonefar；ithadgonetopieces！Therewerethepieceslyingwheretheboxhadbeen。Thepuzzlehadsolveditself。Theboxwasopen，openwithavengeance，onemightsay。
　　LikethatunfortunateHumptyDumpty，who，sothechroniclerstellus，satonawall，surely“alltheking’shorsesandalltheking’smen“nevercouldputPugh’spuzzletogetheragain！
　　Themarquetryhadresolveditselfintoitscomponentparts。Howthosepartshadeverbeenjoinedwasamystery。Theyhadbeenlaiduponnofoundation，asisthecasewithordinaryinlaidwork。Theseveralpiecesofwoodwerenotonlyofdifferentshapesandsizes，buttheywereasthinasthethinnestveneer；yettheboxhadbeenformedbysimplyjoiningthemtogether。Themanwhomadethatboxmusthavebeenpossessedofingenuityworthyofabettercause。
　　Iperceivedhowthepuzzlehadbeenworked。Theboxhadcontainedanarrangementofsprings，which，onbeingreleased，hadexpandedthemselvesindifferentdirectionsuntiltheirmereexpansionhadrenttheboxtopieces。Therewerethesprings，lyingamidtheruintheyhadcaused。
　　Therewassomethingelseamidthatruinbesidesthosesprings；
　　therewasasmallpieceofwritingpaper。Itookitup。Onthereversesideofitwaswritteninaminute，crabbedhand:“A
　　PresentForYou。“Whatwasapresentforme？Ilooked，and，notforthefirsttimesinceIhadcaughtsightofPugh’spreciouspuzzle，couldscarcelybelievemyeyes。
　　There，poisedbetweentwouprightwires，thebentendsofwhichhelditaloftintheair，waseitherapieceofglassor——acrystal。Thescrapofwritingpaperhadexactlycoveredit。I
　　understoodwhatitwas，whenPughandIhadtappedwiththehammer，hadcausedtheansweringtapstoproceedfromwithin。Ourtapscausedthewirestooscillate，andintheseoscillationsthecrystal，whichtheyheldsuspended，hadtouchedthesideofthebox。
　　Ilookedagainatthepieceofpaper。“APresentForYou。“WasTHISthepresent——thiscrystal？Iregardeditintently。
　　“ItCAN’Tbeadiamond。“
　　Theideawasridiculous，absurd。Nomaninhissenseswouldplaceadiamondinsideatwopenny-halfpennypuzzlebox。Thethingwasasbigasawalnut！Andyet——Iamaprettygoodjudgeofpreciousstones——ifitwasnotanuncutdiamonditwasthebestimitationI
　　hadseen。Itookitup。Iexamineditclosely。ThemorecloselyIexaminedit，themoremywondergrew。
　　“ItISadiamond！“
　　Andyettheideawastoopreposterousforcredence。Whowouldpresentadiamondasbigasawalnutwithatrumperypuzzle？
　　Besides，allthediamondswhichtheworldcontainsofthatsizearealmostaswellknownastheKoh-i-noor。
　　“Ifitisadiamond，itisworth——itisworth——Heavenonlyknowswhatitisn’tworthifit’sadiamond。“
　　Iregardeditthroughastrongpocketlens。AsIdidsoIcouldnotrestrainanexclamation。
　　“TheworldtoaChinaorange，itISadiamond！“
　　Thewordshadscarcelyescapedmylipsthantherecameatappingatthedoor。
　　“Comein！“Icried，supposingitwasBob。ItwasnotBob，itwasPugh。InstinctivelyIputthelensandthecrystalbehindmyback。
　　AtsightofmeinmynightshirtPughbegantoshakehishead。
　　“Whathours，Tress，whathours！Why，mydearTress，I’vebreakfasted，readthepapersandmyletters，cameallthewayfrommyhousehere，andyou’renotup！“
　　“Don’tIlookasthoughIwereup？“
　　“Ah，Tress！Tress！“Heapproachedthedressing-table。Hiseyefellupontheruins。“What’sthis？“
　　“That’sthesolutiontothepuzzle。“
　　“Haveyou——haveyousolveditfairly，Tress？“
　　“Ithassolveditself。Ourhandling，andtapping，andhammeringmusthavefreedthespringswhichtheboxcontained，andduringthenight，whileIslept，theyhavecausedittocomeopen。“
　　“Whileyouslept？Dearme！Howstrange！And——whatarethese？“
　　Hehaddiscoveredthetwouprightwiresonwhichthecrystalhadbeenpoised。
　　“Isupposethey’repartofthepuzzle。“
　　“Andwasthereanythinginthebox？What’sthis？“hepickedupthescrapofpaper；Ihadleftitonthetable。Hereadwhatwaswrittenonit:“’APresentForYou。’What’sitmean？Tress，wasthisinthebox？“
　　“Itwas。“
　　“What’sitmeanaboutapresent？Wasthereanythingintheboxbesides？“
　　“Pugh，ifyouwillleavetheroomIshallbeabletodress；Iamnotinthehabitofreceivingquitesuchearlycalls，orIshouldhavebeenpreparedtoreceiveyou。Ifyouwillwaitinthenextroom，IwillbewithyouassoonasI’mdressed。ThereisalittlesubjectinconnectionwiththeboxwhichIwishtodiscusswithyou。“
　　“Asubjectinconnectionwiththebox？Whatisthesubject？“
　　“Iwilltellyou，Pugh，whenIhaveperformedmytoilet。“
　　“Whycan’tyoutellmenow？“
　　“Doyoupropose，then，thatIshouldstandhereshiveringinmyshirtwhileyouareprosingatyourease？Thankyou；Iamobliged，butIdecline。MayIaskyouoncemore，Pugh，towaitformeintheadjoiningapartment？“
　　Hemovedtowardthedoor。Whenhehadtakenacoupleofsteps，hehalted。
　　“I——Ihope，Tress，thatyou’re——you’regoingtoplaynotricksonme？“
　　“Tricksonyou！IsitlikelythatIamgoingtoplaytricksuponmyoldestfriend？“
　　Whenhehadgone——hevanished，itseemedtome，withasomewhatdoubtfulvisage——Itookthecrystaltothewindow。Idrewtheblind。Iletthesunshinefallonit。Iexamineditagain，closelyandminutely，withtheaidofmypocketlens。ItWASadiamond；therecouldnotbeadoubtofit。If，withmyknowledgeofstones，Iwasdeceived，thenIwasdeceivedasnevermanhadbeendeceivedbefore。MyheartbeatfasterasIrecognizedthefactthatIwasholdinginmyhandwhatwas，inallprobability，afortuneforamanofmoderatedesires。Ofcourse，PughknewnothingofwhatIhaddiscovered，andtherewasnoreasonwhyheshouldknow。Nottheleast！TheonlydifficultywasthatifI
　　keptmyowncounsel，andsoldthestoneandutilizedtheproceedsofthesale，Ishouldhavetoinventastorywhichwouldaccountformysuddenaccessiontofortune。PughknowsalmostasmuchofmyaffairsasIdomyself。Thatistheworstoftheseoldfriends！
　　WhenIjoinedPughIfoundhimdancingupanddownthefloorlikeabearuponhotplates。Hescarcelyallowedmetoputmynoseinsidethedoorbeforeattackingme。
　　“Tress，givemewhatwasinthebox。“
　　“MydearPugh，howdoyouknowthattherewassomethingintheboxtogiveyou？“
　　“Iknowtherewas！“
　　“Indeed！Ifyouknowthattherewassomethinginthebox，perhapsyouwilltellmewhatthatsomethingwas。“
　　Heeyedmedoubtfully。Then，advancing，helaiduponmyarmahandwhichpositivelytrembled。
　　“Tress，you——youwouldn’tplaytricksonanoldfriend。“
　　“Youareright，Pugh，Iwouldn’t，thoughIbelievetherehavebeenoccasionsonwhichyouhavehaddoubtsuponthesubject。Bytheway，Pugh，IbelievethatIamtheoldestfriendyouhave。“
　　“I——Idon’tknowaboutthat。There’s——there’sBrasher。“
　　“Brasher！Who’sBrasher？Youwouldn’tcomparemyfriendshiptothefriendshipofsuchamanasBrasher？Thinkofthetasteswehaveincommon，youandI。We’rebothcollectors。“
　　“Ye-es，we’rebothcollectors。“