The Case of the Ward Lane Tabernacle | Page 2

when the old lady softens under the
combined influence of tea and uncle Joseph's snuff-box, that Hewitt
seizes to lead up to his hint of some starving governess or distressed
clerk, with the full confidence that the more savagely the story is
received the better will the poor people be treated as soon as he turns
his back.
It was her jealous care of uncle Joseph's snuff-box that first brought
Mrs. Mallett into contact with Martin Hewitt, and the occasion, though
not perhaps testing his acuteness to the extent that some did, was
nevertheless one of the most curious and fantastic on which he has ever
been engaged She was then some ten or twelve years younger than she
is now, but Hewitt assures me she looked exactly the same; that is to
say, she was harsh, angular, and seemed little more than fifty years of
age. It was before the time of Kerrett, and another youth occupied the
outer office. Hewitt sat late one afternoon with his door ajar when he
heard a stranger enter the outer office, and a voice, which he afterwards
knew well as Mrs. Mallett's, ask "Is Mr. Martin Hewitt in?"
"Yes, ma'am, I think so. If you will write your name and----"
"Is he in there?" And with three strides Mrs. Mallett was at the inner
door and stood before Hewitt himself, while the routed office-lad stared
helplessly in the rear.
"Mr. Hewitt," Mrs. Mallet said, "I have come to put an affair into your
hands, which I shall require to be attended to at once."
Hewitt was surprised, but he bowed politely, and said, with some
suspicion of a hint in his tone, "Yes--I rather supposed you were in a
hurry."
She glanced quickly in Hewitt's face and went on: "I am not
accustomed to needless ceremony, Mr. Hewitt. My name is

Mallett--Mrs. Mallett--and here is my card. I have come to consult you
on a matter of great annoyance and some danger to myself. The fact is I
am being watched and followed by a number of persons."
Hewitt's gaze was steadfast, but he reflected that possibly this curious
woman was a lunatic, the delusion of being watched and followed by
unknown people being perhaps the most common of all; also it was no
unusual thing to have a lunatic visit the office with just such a
complaint. So he only said soothingly, "Indeed? That must be very
annoying."
"Yes, yes, the annoyance is bad enough perhaps," she answered shortly,
"but I am chiefly concerned about my great-uncle Joseph's snuff-box."
This utterance sounded a trifle more insane than the other, so Hewitt
answered, a little more soothingly still: "Ah, of course. A very
important thing, the snuff-box, no doubt."
"It is, Mr. Hewitt--it is important, as I think you will admit when you
have seen it. Here it is," and she produced from a small handbag the
article that Hewitt was destined so often again to see and affect an
interest in. "You may be incredulous, Mr. Hewitt, but it is nevertheless
a fact that the lid of this snuff-box is made of the wood of the original
ark that rested on Mount Ararat."
She handed the box to Hewitt, who murmured, "Indeed! Very
interesting--very wonderful, really," and returned it to the lady
immediately.
"That, Mr. Hewitt, was the property of my great-uncle, Joseph Simpson,
who once had the honour of shaking hands with his late Majesty King
George the Fourth. The box was presented to my uncle by ----," and
then Mrs. Mallett plunged into the whole history and adventures of the
box, in the formula wherewith Hewitt subsequently became so well
acquainted, and which need not be here set out in detail. When the box
had been properly honoured Mrs. Mallett proceeded with her business.
"I am convinced, Mr. Hewitt," she said, "that systematic attempts are

being made to rob me of this snuff-box. I am not a nervous or
weak-minded woman, or perhaps I might have sought your assistance
before. The watching and following of myself I might have disregarded,
but when it comes to burglary I think it is time to do something."
"Certainly," Hewitt agreed.
"Well, I have been pestered with demands for the box for some time
past. I have here some of the letters which I have received, and I am
sure I know at whose instigation they were sent." She placed on the
table a handful of papers of various sizes, which Hewitt examined one
after another. They were mostly in the same handwriting, and all were
unsigned. Every one was couched in a fanatically toned imitation of
scriptural diction, and all sorts of threats were expressed with many
emphatic underlinings. The spelling was not of the best, the writing
was mostly uncouth, aud the grammar