The Case of the Ward Lane Tabernacle | Page 3

was in ill shape in many places,
the "thous" and "thees" and their accompanying verbs falling over each
other disastrously. The purport of the messages was rather vaguely
expressed, but all seemed to make a demand for the restoration of some
article held in extreme veneration. This was alluded to in many
figurative ways as the "token of life," the "seal of the woman," and so
forth, and sometimes Mrs. Mallett was requested to restore it to the "ark
of the covenant." One of the least vague of these singular documents
ran thus:--
"Thou of no faith put the bond of the woman clothed with the sun on
the stoan sete in thy back garden this night or thy blood beest on your
own hed. Give it back to us the five righteous only in this citty, give us
that what saves the faithful when the erth is swalloed up."
Hewitt read over these fantastic missives one by one till he began to
suspect that his client, mad or not, certainly corresponded with mad
Quakers. Then he said, "Yes, Mrs. Mallett, these are most extraordinary
letters. Are there any more of them?"
"Bless the man, yes, there were a lot that I burnt. All the same
crack-brained sort of thing."

"They are mostly in one handwriting," Hewitt said, "though some are in
another. But I confess I don't see any very direct reference to the
snuff-box."
"Oh, but it's the only thing they can mean," Mrs. Mallett replied with
great positiveness. "Why, he wanted me to sell it him; and last night my
house was broken into in my absence and everything ransacked and
turned over, but not a thing was taken. Why? Because I had the box
with me at my sister's; and this is the only sacred relic in my possession.
And what saved the faithful when the world was swallowed up? Why,
the ark of course."
The old lady's manner was odd, but notwithstanding the bizarre and
disjointed character of her complaint Hewitt had now had time to
observe that she had none of the unmistakable signs of the lunatic. Her
eye was steady and clear, and she had none of the restless habits of the
mentally deranged. Even at that time Hewitt had met with curious
adventures enough to teach him not to be astonished at a new one, and
now he set himself seriously to get at his client's case in full order and
completeness.
"Come, Mrs. Mallett," he said, "I am a stranger, and I can never
understand your case till I have it, not as it presents itself to your mind,
in the order of importance of events, but in the exact order in which
they happened. You had a great-uncle, I understand, living in the early
part of the century, who left you at his death the snuff-box which you
value so highly. Now you suspect that somebody is attempting to extort
or steal it from you. Tell me as clearly and simply as you can whom
you suspect and the whole story of the attempts."
"That's just what I'm coming to," the old lady answered, rather pettishly.
"My uncle Joseph had an old housekeeper, who of course knew all
about the snuff-box, and it is her son Reuben Penner who is trying to
get it from me. The old woman was half crazy with one extraordinary
religious superstition and another, and her son seems to be just the
same. My great-uncle was a man of strong common-sense and a
churchman (though he did think he could write plays), and if it hadn't
been for his restraint I believe--that is I have been told--Mrs. Penner

would have gone clean demented with religious mania. Well, she died
in course of time, and my great-uncle died some time after, leaving me
the most important thing in his possession (I allude to the snuff-box of
course), a good bit of property, and a tin box full of his worthless
manuscript. I became a widow at twenty-six, and since then I have
lived very quietly in my present house in Fulham.
"A couple of years ago I received a visit from Reuben Penner. I didn't
recognise him, which wasn't wonderful, since I hadn't seen him for
thirty years or more. He is well over fifty now, a large heavy-faced man
with uncommonly wild eyes for a greengrocer--which is what he is,
though he dresses very well, considering. He was quite respectful at
first, and very awkward in his manner. He took a little time to get his
courage, and then he began questioning me about my religious feelings.
Well, Mr. Hewitt, I am not the sort of person to stand a lecture from a
junior and an inferior, whatever my religious opinions may be, and I
pretty soon