The record-union., 1892-11-26
TEE PUZZLE.

Pugh came into my room holding some
thing wrapped in piece of brown paper.
'Tress, L have brought you something
on which You may exercise your in
genuity." He began, with exasperating
deIIberation, to unite the string which
bound his parcel; he is one of those per-
sons who would not cut knot to save
their lives. The process occupied him
the better part Of a quarter Of an hour.
Then he held out the contents Of the
paper
Nv hat do You think of that?" he asked.
l thought nothing Of it, and I told him
SO. Il was prepared for that confession.
! have noticed, Tress, that you generally
do think nothing Of an article which
really deserves the attention of a truly
thoughtful mind. Possibly as you think
SO little Of it, you will be able to solve
the puzzle"
took what he held out to me- 1t was
an oblong box, seven inches long by
three inches broad.
Where's the puzzle % I asked.
If you will examine the lid OF the box,
you viii see."
turned it over and over; it was diff
cult to see which was the lid. Then l
perceived that on one side were printed
these words:
Puzzle: To open the box"
The words Were SO family printed that
II was not surprising that l had not no
uced the at first. Pugh explained.
. Il observed that box on a tray outside
a secondhand furniture shop. 1t struck
my eye. 1 took it up. [ examined it. 1
inquired OF the proprietor of the shop in
what the puzzle lay. He replied that that
was more than he could tell me. He him
self had made several attempts to open
the box, and all Of them had failed. [
purchased it. l took it home. | have
tried, and / have failed. l am aware
1ress, OF how you pride yourself upon
your ingenuity. L cannot doubt that, if
you try, you will not fail"
While Pugh was pressing, [ was exam
lining the box. 1t was at least well made.
| weighed certainly under two ounces.
| struck it with my knuclIles, it sounded
| hollow. There was no hinge; nothing of
any kind to show that ii ever had been
opened, or, for the matter of that, that it
ever could be opened. The more L eN-
amined the thing, the more it whetted
my curiosity. That it could be opened,
and in some ingenious manner, l made
no dOubt-but how?
The box was not new one. At a
rough guess 1 should say that it had been
box for good half-century: there was
certain signs of age about it which could
not escape a practiced eye. Had it re-
manned unopened all that time? When
opened, what would be found inside? 1t
sounded hollow; probably nothing at all
who could tell?
1t was formed of small pieces of inlaid
wood. Several woods had Deen used;
some OF them were strange to me. They
were of different coiOrs; it was pretty
obvious that they must all Of them have
been hard woods. The pieces We're OF
various shapes, heXagonal, octagonal,
triangular, square, Obiong, and even
circular. The process Of inlaying had
been beautifully done. So nicely had the
parts been Joined that the lines of meet
ing were difficult to discover with the
naked eye; they had been joined solid so
to speak. 1t was an excellent sample of
marquetry. l had been over-hasty in
my depreciation; l owned as much to
Pugh.
This box of yours is better worth
looking at than l 1Irst supposed. Is it to
be sold?"
"No, it is not to be sold. Nor'-he
fixed" me with his spectacles-''is it to
be given away. have brought it to You
for the simple purpose Of ascertaiuing if
you have ingenuity enough TO open it,"
II will engage to open it in two seconds
with a hammer"
~ dare say. / viii open it with ham
mer. Ehe thing is to open it without"
Let me see." 1 began, with the aid Of
a microscope, to examine the box more
closely. 81 will give you one piece Of in
formation, Pugh. Unless am mistaken.
the secret lies in one OF these little pieces
Of inlaid wood. You push it, or you press
it, or something, and the whole affair flies
Open"
''Such was my own first conviction. I
am not so sure of it now. | have pressed
Q
to move each piece in every direction.
No result has followed. My theory was
hidden spring"
"But there must be hidden spring of
some sort, unless you are to open it by
exercise of force. / suppose the box is
empty"
Il thought it was at first, but now I am
not SO sure Of that either. 1t all depends
on the position in which you hold it. Hold
it in this pOstion-like this close to your
ear. Have you a small hammer" took
| small hammer. Tip it. softly, with
the hammer. Don't you notice a sort Of
reverberatiOu within ?''
Pugh was right, there certainly was
something within; something which
seemed to echo back my tapping, almost
rs if it were a living thing. 1 mentioned
this to Pugn.
But you don't think that there is
/ something alive inside the box? There
can't be. The box must be air-tight,
probably as much air-tight as an eX-
! hauSted receiver"
How do we know that? How can we
tell that no minute intcrstices have been
LETT Tor the express purpose Of Veutila-
ton ," l continued tapping with the
hammer. / noticed one peculiarity. that
it was only when held the box in par
ticular position, and tapped at a certain
spot, that there came the answering taps
from within. II tell YOU what it is, Pugh,
what / hear is the reyerberation of some
machinery"
DO you think so ?"
Pm sure of it,
"Give the box to me-" Pugh put the
box to his ear. He tapped "it sounds
TO he like the echoing tick, tick of some
great beetle: like The sort Of noise which
a death watch makes, you know"
Trust fugh to find a remarkable eX-
PLANTATION for simple fact; if the eXpla-
nation leans toward the supernatural. so
much the more satisfactory TO Pugh. |
knew better.
The sound which you hear is merely
the throbbing, or the trembling. of the
mechanism with which it is intended that
the box should be opened. The mechan-
ism is placed lust where you are tapping
it with the hammer. Every tap causes
it to Jar"
ut sounds to me like the ticking of
death watch. However, on such subjects,
Tress, know what you are"
''My dear Pugh, give it an extra hard
tap, and you Will see."
He gave it an extra hard tap. The mo-
ment he had done so be started.
Il have done it now"
"Nh have you done?"
! ''Broken something, 1 fancy" He
I listened intently with his ear to the box.
! Not seems all right. And vet | could
have sworn l had damaged something;
1 heard it smash"