The Bronze Hand | Page 7

frightened at such a thing
as that." And with a quick action, she was wholly powerless to prevent,
I shut down the lid, which closed with a snap.
Startled and greatly discomposed, she drew back, hastily thrusting her
hand behind her.
"You are very officious," she began, but, seeing nothing but good
nature in the smile with which I regarded her, she faltered irresolutely,
and finally took refuge again in her former trick of invalidism.
Breaking out into low moanings, she fell back upon the nearest chair,
from which she immediately started again with the quick cry, "Oh, how
I suffer! I am not well enough to be out alone." And turning with a
celerity that belied her words, she fled into the hall, shutting the door
violently behind her.
Astonished at the completeness of my victory, I spent the first moments
of triumph in trying to lift the lid of the box. But it was securely locked.
I was just debating whether I could now venture to return to my seat,
when the hall door reopened and a gentleman entered.
He was short, sturdy and had a bristling black mustache. I needed to
look at him but once to be certain he was interested both in the box and
me, and, while I gave no evidence of my discovery, I prepared myself
for an adventure of a much more serious nature than that which had just

occupied me.
Modeling my behavior upon that of the young girl whose place I had
usurped, I placed my elbow on the box and looked out of the window.
As I did so I heard a shuffling in the adjoining room, and knew that in
another moment the doctor would again appear at the door to announce
that he was ready for another patient. How could I evade the summons?
The man behind me was a determined one. He was there for the
purpose of opening the box, and would not be likely to leave the room
while I remained in it. How, then, could I comply with the
requirements of the situation and yet prevent this new-comer from
lifting the lid in my absence? I knew of but one way--a way which had
suggested itself to me during the long watches of the previous night,
and which I had come prepared to carry out.
Taking advantage of my proximity to the box, I inserted in the keyhole
a small morsel of wax which for some minutes past I had been
warming in my hand. This done, I laid my hat down on the lid, noting
with great exactness as I did so just where its rim lay in reference to the
various squares and scrolls with which the top was ornamented. By this
means I felt that I might know if the hat were moved in my absence.
The doctor having showed himself by this time, I followed him into his
office with a calmness born of the most complete confidence in the
strategy I had employed.
Dr. Merriam, whom I have purposely refrained from describing until
now, was a tall, well-made man, with a bald head and a pleasant eye,
but careless in his attire and bearing. As I met that eye and responded to
his good-natured greeting, I inwardly decided that his interest in the
box was much less than his guardianship of it would seem to betoken.
And when I addressed him and entered upon the subject of my friend's
complaint, I soon saw by the depth of his professional interest that
whatever connection he might have with the box, neither that nor any
other topic whatever could for a moment vie with his delight in a new
and strange case like that of my poor friend. I consequently entered into
the medical details demanded of me with a free mind and succeeded in
getting some very valuable advice, for which I was of course truly

grateful.
As soon as this was accomplished I took my leave, but not by the usual
door of egress. Saying that I had left my hat in the ante-room, I bowed
my acknowledgments to the doctor and returned the way I came. But
not without meeting with a surprise. There was still but one person in
the room with the box, but that person was not the man with the
bristling mustache and determined eye whom I had expected to find
there. It was the pretty, Quaker-like girl who had formerly aroused my
suspicions; and though she sat far from the box, a moment's glance at
her flushed face and trembling hands assured me she had but that
moment left it.
Going at once to the box, I saw that my hat had been moved. But more
significant still was the hairpin lying on the