1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: The puzzle. Anonymous Pooh came into my room holding something 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,359 wrapped in a piece of brown paper. Tress, I have 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,359 brought you something on which you may exercise your ingenuity. 4 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:16,879 He began with exasperating deliberation to untie the string which 5 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,039 bound his parcel. He is one of those persons who 6 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:23,079 would not cut a knot to save their lives. The 7 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,960 process occupied him the better part of a quarter of 8 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,039 an hour. Then he held out the contents of the paper. 9 00:00:29,559 --> 00:00:32,159 What do you think of that, he asked. I thought 10 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,799 nothing of it, and I told him so. I was 11 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,759 prepared for that confession. I have noticed, Tress, that you 12 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,840 generally do think nothing of an article which really deserves 13 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,600 the attention of a truly thoughtful mind. Possibly, as you 14 00:00:45,679 --> 00:00:47,880 think so little of it, you will be able to 15 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:50,359 solve the puzzle. I took what he held out to me. 16 00:00:51,079 --> 00:00:54,799 It was an oblong box, perhaps seven inches long by 17 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,200 three inches broad. Where's the puzzle, I asked. If you 18 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,679 will examine the lid of the box, you will see. 19 00:01:01,039 --> 00:01:03,520 I turned it over and over. It was difficult to 20 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,400 see which was the lid. Then I perceived that on 21 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,840 one side were printed these words puzzle to open the box. 22 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:13,799 These words were so faintly printed that it was not 23 00:01:13,879 --> 00:01:17,359 surprising that I had not noticed them at first. Pew explained, 24 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,400 I observed that box on a tray outside a second 25 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,719 hand furniture shop. It struck my eye. I took it up. 26 00:01:24,079 --> 00:01:27,040 I examined it. I inquired of the proprietor of the 27 00:01:27,079 --> 00:01:30,840 shops in what the puzzle lay. He replied that that 28 00:01:31,159 --> 00:01:34,159 was more than he could tell me. He himself had 29 00:01:34,159 --> 00:01:36,519 made several attempts to open the box, and all of 30 00:01:36,519 --> 00:01:39,439 them had failed. I purchased it. I took it home. 31 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,319 I have tried, and I have failed. I am aware, 32 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,000 Tress of how you pride yourself upon your ingenuity. I 33 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,959 cannot doubt that if you try, you will not fail. 34 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,239 While Pugh was proposing, I was examining the box. It 35 00:01:53,359 --> 00:01:56,760 was at least well made. It weighed certainly under two ounces. 36 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,200 I struck it with my knuckles. It sounded hollow. There 37 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,760 was no hinge, nothing of any kind to show that 38 00:02:02,799 --> 00:02:04,959 it had ever been opened, or, for that matter, of 39 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,919 that that it could be opened. The more I examined 40 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,919 the thing, the more it whetted my curiosity that it 41 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,599 could be opened, and in some ingenious manner. I made 42 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,879 no doubt, but how the box was not a new 43 00:02:17,879 --> 00:02:21,120 one at a rough gas, I should say that it 44 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,919 had been a box for a good half century. There 45 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,159 were certain signs of age about it which could not 46 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,960 escape the practiced eye. Had it remained unopened all that time. 47 00:02:30,599 --> 00:02:33,960 When opened, what would be found inside? It sounded hollow, 48 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,199 probably nothing at all? Who could tell? It was formed 49 00:02:37,199 --> 00:02:40,919 of small pieces of inlaid wood. Several woods had been used. 50 00:02:41,319 --> 00:02:44,080 Some of them were strange to me. They were of 51 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,879 different colors. It was pretty obvious they all must have 52 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:54,400 been hardwood. The pieces were of various shapes hexagonal, octagonal, triangular, square, oblong, 53 00:02:54,439 --> 00:02:57,759 and even circular. The process of inlaying them had been 54 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,520 beautifully done. So nicely had the parts been joined, that 55 00:03:01,599 --> 00:03:03,960 the lines of meeting were difficult to discover with the 56 00:03:04,039 --> 00:03:07,039 naked eye. They had been joined solid, so to speak. 57 00:03:07,719 --> 00:03:11,039 It was an excellent example of marquity. I had been 58 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,439 over hasty in my deprecation. I owed as much to Pew. 59 00:03:15,319 --> 00:03:18,159 This box of yours is better worth looking at than 60 00:03:18,199 --> 00:03:21,639 I first supposed. Is it to be sold? No, it 61 00:03:21,719 --> 00:03:23,879 is not to be sold, Nor he fixed me with 62 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,360 his spectacles. Is it to be given? Away. I have 63 00:03:27,439 --> 00:03:30,039 brought it to you for the simple purpose of ascertaining 64 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,680 if you have the ingenuity enough to open it, I 65 00:03:32,719 --> 00:03:35,400 will engage to open it in two seconds with a hammer. 66 00:03:36,319 --> 00:03:38,840 I dare say I will open it with a hammer. 67 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,919 The thing is to open without it. Let me see. 68 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,280 I began with the aid of a microscope to examine 69 00:03:46,319 --> 00:03:49,719 the box more closely. I will give you one piece 70 00:03:49,759 --> 00:03:53,599 of information. Pew. Unless I am mistaken, the secret lies 71 00:03:53,639 --> 00:03:56,479 in one of these little pieces of inlaid wood. You 72 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:58,800 push it, or you press it, or something, and the 73 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:03,000 whole affair flies over. Such was my own first conviction. 74 00:04:03,639 --> 00:04:05,919 I am not so sure of it. Now I have 75 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,280 pressed every separate piece of wood. I have tried to 76 00:04:09,319 --> 00:04:12,719 move each piece in every direction. No result has followed. 77 00:04:13,159 --> 00:04:15,919 My theory was a hidden spring. But there must be 78 00:04:15,919 --> 00:04:18,519 a hidden spring of some sort unless you are to 79 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,519 open it by mere exercise of force. I suppose the 80 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,759 box is empty. I thought it was at first, but 81 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,519 now I'm not so sure of that either. It all 82 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,680 depends on the position in which you hold it. Hold 83 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,399 it in this position like this, close to your ear. 84 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,839 Have you a small hammer. I took a small hammer. 85 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:41,360 Tap it softly, with the hammer. Don't you notice a 86 00:04:41,399 --> 00:04:45,519 sort of reverberation within? Pew was right. There certainly was 87 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,120 something within, something which seemed to echo back my tapping, 88 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:51,879 almost as if it were a living thing. I mentioned 89 00:04:51,879 --> 00:04:54,079 this to Pew, But you don't think that there is 90 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,519 something alive inside the box. There can't be. The box 91 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,879 must be airtight, probably as much as air tight a 92 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,079 an exhausted receiver. How do we know that? How can 93 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,519 we tell that? No minute intercise must have been left 94 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,680 for the express purposes of ventilation. I continued tapping with 95 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:16,360 a hammer. I noticed one peculiarity that it was only 96 00:05:16,399 --> 00:05:19,160 when I held the box in a particular position and 97 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,879 tapped at a certain spot there came the answering taps 98 00:05:22,879 --> 00:05:26,160 from within. I tell you what it is, Pew. What 99 00:05:26,199 --> 00:05:29,360 I hear is the reverberation of some machinery. Do you 100 00:05:29,399 --> 00:05:32,639 think so? I'm sure of it. Give the box to me. 101 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,199 Pew put the box to his ear. He tapped. Sounds 102 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,240 to me like an echoing tick tick of some great beetle, 103 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,240 like the noise which a death watch makes. You know, 104 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,759 trust Pew to find a remarkable explanation for a simple fact. 105 00:05:47,079 --> 00:05:50,519 If the explanation leans towards a supernatural, so much the 106 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,079 more satisfactory. To Pew, I knew better. A sound which 107 00:05:54,079 --> 00:05:57,040 you hear is merely the throbbing or the trembling of 108 00:05:57,079 --> 00:05:59,639 the mechanism with which it is intended that the box 109 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,959 should open. The mechanism is placed just where you are 110 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,240 tapping it with the hammer. Every tap causes it to jar. 111 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:10,240 Sounds to me like the ticking of a death watch. However, 112 00:06:10,319 --> 00:06:14,199 on such subjects trust, I know what you are, my 113 00:06:14,319 --> 00:06:16,639 dear Pew. Give it an extra hard tap and you 114 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,160 will see. He gave it an extra hard tap. The 115 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,959 moment he had done so, he started, I've done it. Now, 116 00:06:23,639 --> 00:06:27,160 what have you done? Broken something? I fancy? He listened 117 00:06:27,199 --> 00:06:29,439 intensely with his ear to the box. No, it seems 118 00:06:29,439 --> 00:06:32,439 all right. And yet I could have sworn I'd damaged something. 119 00:06:32,439 --> 00:06:36,120 I heard it smash. Give me the box. He gave 120 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,879 it to me. In my turn. I listened. I shook 121 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,000 the box. Pew must have been mistaken. Nothing rattled. There 122 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,519 was not a sound. The box was as empty as before. 123 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:47,319 I gave a smart tap with the hammer, as Pew 124 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,279 had done. Then there certainly was a curious sound. To 125 00:06:51,399 --> 00:06:54,959 my ear. It sounded like the smashing of glass. I 126 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,199 wonder if there's anything fragile inside your precious puzzle, pew, 127 00:06:58,519 --> 00:07:01,519 and if so, if we are shivering it by degrees? 128 00:07:02,319 --> 00:07:06,040 What is that noise? I lay in bed in a 129 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,399 curious condition, which is in between sleep and waking, when 130 00:07:09,399 --> 00:07:12,600 at last I knew I was awake. I asked myself 131 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,839 what it was that it woke me. Suddenly I became 132 00:07:15,959 --> 00:07:19,079 conscious that something was making itself audible in the silence 133 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,000 of the night. For some seconds, I lay and listened. 134 00:07:22,399 --> 00:07:25,199 Then I sat up in bed. What is that noise? 135 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,920 It was like the tick tick of some large and 136 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,879 unusually clear toned clock. It might have been a clock, 137 00:07:33,279 --> 00:07:36,040 had it not been that the sound was varied every 138 00:07:36,079 --> 00:07:39,759 half dozen ticks or so by a sort of stifled screech, 139 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,319 such as might have been uttered by a small creature. 140 00:07:43,759 --> 00:07:47,360 In an extremity of an anguish, I got out of bed. 141 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,240 It was ridiculous to think of sleep. During the continuation 142 00:07:50,319 --> 00:07:54,120 of that uncanny shrieking. I struck a light. The sound 143 00:07:54,199 --> 00:07:56,759 seemed to come from the neighborhood of my dressing table. 144 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,079 I went to the dressing table, the lighted match in 145 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,439 my hand, and as I did so, my eyes fell 146 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,839 on Pew's mysterious box. The same instant there issued from 147 00:08:05,839 --> 00:08:09,040 the bowels of the box a more uncomfortable shriek than 148 00:08:09,079 --> 00:08:12,560 I had heard previously. It took me so completely by 149 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,680 surprise that I let the match fall from my hand 150 00:08:14,759 --> 00:08:18,040 to the floor. The room was in darkness. I stood, 151 00:08:18,199 --> 00:08:21,920 I will not say, trembling, listening, considering their volume to 152 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,920 the eeriest shrieks I had ever heard. All at once, 153 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,319 they ceased. Then came the tick tick again. I struck 154 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,320 another match and lit the gas. Pugh had left his 155 00:08:33,399 --> 00:08:36,399 puzzle box behind him. We had done all we could 156 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,519 together to solve the puzzle. He had left it behind 157 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:41,840 to see what I could do with it alone. So 158 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,480 much had it engrossed my attention that I even brought 159 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,080 it into my bedroom in order that I might, before 160 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,279 retiring to rest, make a final attempt at the solution 161 00:08:50,399 --> 00:08:54,080 of the mystery? Now what possessed the thing? As I 162 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,679 stood and looked and listened, one thing began to be 163 00:08:56,759 --> 00:08:59,399 clear to me that some sort of machinery had been 164 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,600 set to motion inside the box. How had it been 165 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,720 set in motion was another matter, But the box had 166 00:09:05,759 --> 00:09:09,279 been subjected to so much handling, to such pressing and 167 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,799 such hammering, that it was not strange if, after all, 168 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,200 pure eye had unconsciously hit upon the spring which set 169 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,759 the whole thing going. Possibly the mechanism had gotten so 170 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,399 rusty that it refuses to act all at once, It 171 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,399 had hung fire, and only after some hours had something 172 00:09:26,519 --> 00:09:30,279 or other set the imprisoned motive power free. But what 173 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,240 about the screeching? Could there be some living creature concealed 174 00:09:34,279 --> 00:09:37,000 within the box? Was I listening to the cries of 175 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:41,360 some small animal in agony? Momentary reflection suggested that the 176 00:09:41,399 --> 00:09:43,960 explanation of the one thing was the explanation of the 177 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:48,879 other rust. There was the mystery. The same rust which 178 00:09:48,919 --> 00:09:52,279 had prevented the mechanism from acting at once, was causing 179 00:09:52,279 --> 00:09:56,279 the screeching. Now, the uncanny sounds were caused by nothing 180 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,360 more nor less than the want of a drop or 181 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,240 to of oil, which an explanation would not have satisfied Pew, 182 00:10:02,639 --> 00:10:05,919 it satisfied me. Picking up the box, I placed it 183 00:10:05,919 --> 00:10:08,720 to my ear. I wonder how long this little performance 184 00:10:08,799 --> 00:10:11,399 is going to continue, and what is going to happen 185 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,320 when it is good enough to cease? I hope. An 186 00:10:14,399 --> 00:10:17,639 uncomfortable thought occurred to me, I hope Pew hasn't picked 187 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:19,919 up some pleasant little novelty in the way of an 188 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,240 infernal machine. It would be a first rate joke if 189 00:10:23,279 --> 00:10:25,399 he and I had been endeavoring to solve the puzzle 190 00:10:25,399 --> 00:10:28,159 of how to set it going. I don't mind owning that. 191 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,440 As this reflection crossed my mind, I placed Pew's puzzle 192 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,879 on the dressing table. The idea did not commend itself 193 00:10:35,879 --> 00:10:40,200 to me at all. The box evidently contained some curious mechanism. 194 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,519 It might be more curious than comfortable, possibly some agreeable 195 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:48,960 little device in clockwork. The tick tick suggested clockwork which 196 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,759 had been planned to go a certain time, and then, then, 197 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,919 for all I knew, ignite an explosive and blow up. 198 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:57,679 It would be a charming solution to the puzzle if 199 00:10:57,720 --> 00:10:59,639 it were to explode while I stood there in my 200 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,360 night looking on. It is true the box weighed very little. 201 00:11:03,799 --> 00:11:06,080 Probably if I had said the whole affair would not 202 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,759 have turned the scale at a couple of ounces. But 203 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,440 then its very lightness might have been part of the 204 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,240 ingenious inventor's game. There are explosives with which one can 205 00:11:16,279 --> 00:11:19,600 work very satisfactorily. Amount of damage with considerably less than 206 00:11:19,639 --> 00:11:23,559 a couple of ounces. While I was hesitating, I own 207 00:11:23,639 --> 00:11:26,679 it whether I had not better immerse Pew's puzzle in 208 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:28,759 a can of water, or throw it out the window, 209 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,759 or call down Bob with a request to at once 210 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,799 remove it to his apartment. Both the tick tick tick 211 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,679 and the screeching ceased, and all within the box was still. 212 00:11:39,799 --> 00:11:43,759 If it was going to explode, it was now or never. Instinctively, 213 00:11:43,799 --> 00:11:46,360 I moved in the direction of the door. I waited 214 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,360 with a certain sense of anxiety. I waited in vain. 215 00:11:49,919 --> 00:11:54,360 Nothing happened, not even a renewal of sound. I wish 216 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,320 Pugh had kept his precious puzzle at home. This sort 217 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,480 of thing tries one's nerves. When I I thought that, 218 00:12:00,519 --> 00:12:03,879 I perceived that nothing seemed likely to happen. I returned 219 00:12:03,879 --> 00:12:06,720 to the neighborhood of the table. I looked at the 220 00:12:06,759 --> 00:12:10,639 box askance. I tucked it up gingerly. Something might go 221 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:13,320 off at any moment, For all I knew, it would 222 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,600 be too much of a joke. If Peugh's precious puzzle 223 00:12:15,639 --> 00:12:19,279 exploded in my hand. I shook it doubtfully. Nothing rattled. 224 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:21,840 I held it to my ear. There was not a 225 00:12:21,879 --> 00:12:25,519 sound what had taken place. Had the clockwork run down, 226 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,919 and was the machine arranged with such a diabolical ingenuity 227 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,360 that a certain interval was required after the clockwork had 228 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,919 run down before an explosion would occur, Or had Russ 229 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:40,200 cause the mechanism again to hang fire. After making all 230 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,320 that commotion, the thing might at least come open. I 231 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,320 banged the box viciously against the corner of the table. 232 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,159 I felt that I would almost rather that an explosion 233 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,480 should take place than that nothing should occur. One does 234 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,000 not care to be disturbed from one's sound slumber in 235 00:12:55,039 --> 00:12:58,679 the small hours of the morning for a trifle. I've 236 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:01,440 half a mind to get a hammer and try, as 237 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:05,600 they say in the cookery books, another way. Unfortunately, I'd 238 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,840 promised Pew to abstain from using force. I might have 239 00:13:08,919 --> 00:13:11,360 shivered the box open with my hammer and then explained 240 00:13:11,399 --> 00:13:14,159 that it had fallen or got trod upon, or sat 241 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,399 upon or something or so got shattered. Only I was 242 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:19,960 afraid that Pew would not believe me. The man is 243 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,279 himself such an untruthful man that he is in a 244 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,240 chronic state of suspicion about the truthfulness of others. Well, 245 00:13:27,279 --> 00:13:29,879 if you're not going to blow up or open or something. 246 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:33,039 I'll say good night. I gave the box a final 247 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,120 rap with my knuckles and a final shake, replaced it 248 00:13:36,159 --> 00:13:38,360 on the table, put out the gas, and returned to bed. 249 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,519 I was just sinking again into slumber when that box 250 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:46,120 began again. It was true that Pew had purchased the puzzle, 251 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,120 but it was evident that the whole enjoyment of the 252 00:13:48,159 --> 00:13:51,360 purchase was destined to be mine. It was useless to 253 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,000 think of sleep while that performance was going on. I 254 00:13:54,039 --> 00:13:56,960 sat up in bed once more. It strikes me that 255 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,639 the puzzle consists in finding out how it is possible 256 00:13:59,639 --> 00:14:01,840 to go to sleep with Pew's purchase in your bedroom. 257 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:05,240 This is far better than the old fashioned prescription of 258 00:14:05,279 --> 00:14:08,480 cats on the tiles. It struck me that the noise 259 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:12,000 was distinctly louder than before. This applied both to the 260 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:16,159 tick tick and the screeching. Possibly, I told myself as 261 00:14:16,159 --> 00:14:18,759 I relighted the gas, the explosion is going to come 262 00:14:18,799 --> 00:14:21,639 off this time. I turned to look at the box. 263 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,799 There could be no doubt about it. The noise was louder, 264 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,039 and if I could trust my eyes, the box was moving, 265 00:14:28,639 --> 00:14:31,960 giving a series of little jumps. This might have been 266 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:35,159 an optical delusion, but it seemed to me that each 267 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:39,399 tick gave the box a bound. During the screeches, which 268 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,039 sounded more like the cries of an animal in agony 269 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:45,080 of pain even than before. If it did not tilt 270 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,679 itself first on one end and then on the other, 271 00:14:48,039 --> 00:14:50,519 I shall never be willing to trust the evidence of 272 00:14:50,559 --> 00:14:53,720 my own eyes again. And surely the box had increased 273 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,360 in size. I could have sworn not only had it increased, 274 00:14:57,799 --> 00:15:00,200 but that it was increasing even as I stood. They're 275 00:15:00,279 --> 00:15:04,000 looking on. It had grown, and was still growing, both 276 00:15:04,039 --> 00:15:07,519 broader and longer and deeper. Pew, of course, would have 277 00:15:07,559 --> 00:15:11,320 attributed it to a supernatural agency. There never was a 278 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,159 man with such a nose for a ghost. I could 279 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,639 picture him occupying my position, shivering in his night shirt 280 00:15:17,919 --> 00:15:20,879 as he beheld that miracle taking place before his eyes. 281 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,120 The solution, which at once suggested itself to me, and 282 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,600 which would never have suggested itself to Pew, was that 283 00:15:28,639 --> 00:15:32,159 the box was fashioned as if it were in layers, 284 00:15:32,559 --> 00:15:35,559 and that the ingenious mechanism it contained was forcing the 285 00:15:35,639 --> 00:15:38,519 sides at once, both upward and outward. I took it 286 00:15:38,559 --> 00:15:41,440 in my hand. I could feel something striking against the 287 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:44,240 bottom of the box like a tap tap tapping of 288 00:15:44,279 --> 00:15:48,320 a tiny hammer. This is a pretty puzzle of pews. 289 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:51,120 He would say that this is the tapping of a 290 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,639 death watch. For my part, I have not much faith 291 00:15:54,679 --> 00:15:59,159 in deathwatches at hot genus omnae. But it is certainly 292 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,120 a curious task. I wonder what is going to happen next. 293 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:09,279 Apparently nothing except a continuation of those mysterious sounds. That 294 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,240 the box had increased in size, I had and have 295 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:16,279 no doubt whatsoever. I should say that it had increased 296 00:16:16,279 --> 00:16:19,360 a good inch in every direction, at least half an 297 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,840 inch while I had been looking on. But while I 298 00:16:21,919 --> 00:16:26,440 stood looking, its growths was suddenly and perceptibly stayed. It 299 00:16:26,559 --> 00:16:30,480 ceased to move, only the noise continued. I wonder how 300 00:16:30,519 --> 00:16:33,879 long it'll be before anything worth happening does happen. I 301 00:16:33,919 --> 00:16:37,039 suppose something is going to happen. This can't be all 302 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,960 this to do for nothing. If it is anything in 303 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,840 the infernal machine line, and there is going to be 304 00:16:42,879 --> 00:16:45,600 an explosion, I might as well be here to see it. 305 00:16:46,039 --> 00:16:48,279 I think I'll have a pipe. I put on my 306 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,279 dressing gown, I lit my pipe, I sat and stared 307 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,080 at the box. I dare say, I sat there for 308 00:16:54,159 --> 00:16:57,480 quite twenty minutes, when, as before, without any sort of warning, 309 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,320 the sound was stilled. Its sudden sustaine rather startled me. 310 00:17:02,039 --> 00:17:05,240 Has the mechanism again hung fire? Or this time is 311 00:17:05,279 --> 00:17:08,720 the explosion coming off? It did not come off. Nothing 312 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:12,880 came off. Isn't the box even going to open? It 313 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,519 did not open. There was simply silence all at once, 314 00:17:16,559 --> 00:17:19,839 and that was all. I sat there in expectation for 315 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,240 some moments longer, but I sat for nothing. I rose, 316 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,440 I took the box in my hand, and I shook it. 317 00:17:26,039 --> 00:17:29,759 This puzzle is a puzzle. I held the box first 318 00:17:29,759 --> 00:17:32,279 to one ear, then the other. I gave it several 319 00:17:32,319 --> 00:17:35,640 sharp raps with my knuckles. There was not an answering sound, 320 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:38,039 not even the sort of reverberation with pew and I 321 00:17:38,079 --> 00:17:42,039 had noticed at first it seemed hollower than ever. It 322 00:17:42,079 --> 00:17:44,119 was as though the soul of the box was dead. 323 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,440 I suppose if I put you down and extinguished the 324 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,880 gas and returned to bed in about half an hour 325 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,440 or so, just as I'm dropping off to sleep, the 326 00:17:52,519 --> 00:17:56,920 performance will be recommenced. Perhaps the third time will be lucky. 327 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,759 But I was mistaken There was no third time when 328 00:18:00,759 --> 00:18:03,319 I returned to bed. That time, I returned to sleep, 329 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,720 and I was allowed to sleep. There was no continuation 330 00:18:06,839 --> 00:18:09,519 of the performance, at least so far as I know, 331 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,480 For no sooner was I once more between the sheets 332 00:18:13,839 --> 00:18:18,519 than I was seized with an irresistible drowsiness, a drowsinessch 333 00:18:18,559 --> 00:18:21,359 so mastered me that I, I imagine it must have 334 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:25,160 been instantly sank into a slumber which lasted till long 335 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,400 after the day had dawned. Whether or not any more 336 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,720 mysterious sounds issued from the bowels of Pew's puzzle is 337 00:18:31,759 --> 00:18:34,440 more than I can tell. If they did, they did 338 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,960 not succeed in rousing me. And yet when at last 339 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,680 I did awake, I had a sort of consciousness that 340 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,079 my waking had been caused by something strange. What it was, 341 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,279 I could not surmise. My own impression was that I 342 00:18:47,279 --> 00:18:49,640 had been awakened by the touch of a person's hand. 343 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,480 But that impression must have been a mistaken one, because, 344 00:18:53,599 --> 00:18:55,920 as I could easily see by looking round the room, 345 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:58,119 there was no one in the room to touch me. 346 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,400 It was broad daylight. I looked at my watch. It 347 00:19:02,519 --> 00:19:05,599 was nearly eleven o'clock. I am a pretty late sleeper 348 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:07,599 as a rule, but I do not usually sleep as 349 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,559 late as that. That scoundrel Bob would let me sleep 350 00:19:10,599 --> 00:19:13,799 all day without thinking it necessary to call me. I 351 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,640 was just about to spring out of bed with the 352 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,680 intention of ringing the bell so that I might give 353 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,119 Bob a piece of my mind for allowing me to 354 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,319 sleep so late, when my glance fell on the dressing 355 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:26,119 table on which the night before I had placed Pew's puzzle. 356 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,799 It had gone. Its absence so took me by surprise 357 00:19:29,839 --> 00:19:32,799 that I ran to the table it had gone, But 358 00:19:32,839 --> 00:19:35,680 it had not gone far. It had gone to pieces. 359 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,880 There were pieces lying where the box had been. The 360 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,640 puzzle had solved itself. The box was open, open with 361 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,640 a vengeance, one might say, like that unfortunate Humpty Dumpty, who, 362 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,799 so the chroniclers tell us, sat on a wall. Surely 363 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,359 all the King's horses and all the king's men never 364 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,119 could put Pew's puzzle together again. The market tee had 365 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,880 resolved itself into its component's parts. How those parts had 366 00:20:00,079 --> 00:20:04,000 ever joined was a mystery. They had laid upon no foundation, 367 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:07,640 as is the case with ordinary inlaid work. The several 368 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,839 pieces of wood were not only of different shapes and sizes, 369 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,960 but they were as thin as the thinnest veneer. Yet 370 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,599 the box had been formed by simply joining them together. 371 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,519 The man who made that box must have been possessed 372 00:20:19,559 --> 00:20:23,240 of ingenuity worthy of a better cause. I perceived how 373 00:20:23,279 --> 00:20:26,200 the puzzle had been worked. The box had contained an 374 00:20:26,319 --> 00:20:30,400 arrangement of springs, which, on being released, had expanded themselves 375 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,920 in different directions, until their mere expansion had rent the 376 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,640 box to pieces. There were the springs lying amid the 377 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:42,119 ruin they had caused. There was something else amid the ruin. 378 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:45,519 Besides those springs. There was a small piece of writing paper. 379 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,400 I took it up. On the reverse side of it 380 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,799 was written in a minute crabbed hand, A present for you. 381 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,880 What was a present for me? I looked, and not 382 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:57,799 for the first time since I had caught sight of 383 00:20:57,839 --> 00:21:02,920 Pew's precious puzzle, could scarcely believe my eyes. There, poised 384 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,319 between two upright wires, the bent ends of which held 385 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,079 it aloft in the air, was either a piece of 386 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:13,039 glass or a crystal. A scrap of writing paper had 387 00:21:13,079 --> 00:21:16,440 exactly covered it. I understood what it was when Pew 388 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,160 and I had tapped with a hammer had caused the 389 00:21:19,279 --> 00:21:22,920 answering taps to proceed from within. Our tap caused the 390 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,960 wires to oscillate, and in these oscillations, the crystal which 391 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,640 they had held suspended had touched the side of the box. 392 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,680 I looked again at the piece of paper a present 393 00:21:33,759 --> 00:21:37,880 for you? Was this the present? This crystal? I regarded 394 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:42,759 it intently. It can't be a diamond. The idea was ridiculous, absurd. 395 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,000 No man in his senses would place a diamond inside 396 00:21:46,039 --> 00:21:49,839 a halfpenny puzzle box. The thing was as big as 397 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,119 a walnut. And yet I am a pretty good judge 398 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,200 of precious stones. If it was not an uncut diamond, 399 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,960 it was the best imitation I had seen. I took 400 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,079 it up, I examined it closely. The more closely I 401 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:05,519 examined it, the more my wonder grew. It is a diamond. 402 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,680 And yet the idea was too preposterous for credence. Who 403 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,160 would present a diamond as big as a walnut with 404 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,880 a trumpery puzzle. Besides, all the diamonds which the world 405 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:19,039 contains of that size are almost as well known as 406 00:22:19,319 --> 00:22:22,960 the Choenor. If it is a diamond, it is worth 407 00:22:23,599 --> 00:22:26,400 is worth heaven? Only knows what it isn't worth If 408 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,440 it is a diamond. I regarded it through a strong 409 00:22:30,519 --> 00:22:33,599 pocket lens. As I did so, I could not restrain 410 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,359 an exclamation the world to a China orange. It is 411 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:41,119 a diamond. The words had scarcely escaped my lips than 412 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,119 there came a tapping at the door. Come in, I cried, 413 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:48,400 supposing it was Bob. It was not Bob, it was Pew. Instinctively, 414 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,559 I put the lens in the crystal behind my back 415 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,160 the sight of me and my night shirt. Pew began 416 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:57,079 to shake his head. What ours, Truss? What hours? Why? 417 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:00,720 My dear Truss. I've breakfasted, read the paper. My letters 418 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:02,880 came all the way from my house here, and you're 419 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,440 not up. Don't I look as though I were up? 420 00:23:05,839 --> 00:23:09,720 Ah Tress Truss. He approached the dressing table. His eye 421 00:23:09,759 --> 00:23:12,839 fell upon the ruins. What's this? That's the solution to 422 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,640 the puzzle? Have you? Have you solved it fairly? Truss? 423 00:23:17,039 --> 00:23:20,559 It is solved itself. Our handling and tapping and hammering 424 00:23:20,839 --> 00:23:23,920 must have freed the springs which the box contained, and 425 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,400 during the night while I slept, they have caused it 426 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,000 to come open. Well, you slept dear me, how strange? 427 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,799 And what are these? He had discovered the two upright 428 00:23:33,839 --> 00:23:36,759 wires on which the crystal had been poised. I suppose 429 00:23:36,799 --> 00:23:39,559 they're part of the puzzle. And was there anything in 430 00:23:39,599 --> 00:23:42,440 the box? What's this? He picked up the scrap of 431 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,039 paper I had left it on the table. He read 432 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,559 what was written on it? A present for you? What's 433 00:23:47,599 --> 00:23:50,759 it mean? Tress? Was this in the box? It was? 434 00:23:51,799 --> 00:23:54,599 What's it mean about? A present? Was there anything in 435 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,920 the box? Besides? Phew? If you will leave the room, 436 00:23:58,079 --> 00:24:00,240 I shall be able to dress. I'm not in the 437 00:24:00,279 --> 00:24:03,279 habit of receiving quite such early clalls, or I should 438 00:24:03,279 --> 00:24:05,640 have been prepared to receive you. If you will wait 439 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:07,440 in the next room, I will be with you as 440 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,119 soon as I'm dressed. There is a little subject in 441 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,519 connection with the box which I wish to discuss with you. 442 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,319 A subject in connection with the box? What is the subject? 443 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:19,640 I will tell you, pew, when I have performed my toilet. 444 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,160 Why can't you tell me? Now? Do you propose that 445 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,680 then I should stand here, shivering in my shirt where 446 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,680 you are prosing at your ease. Thank you. I'm obliged, 447 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,359 but I decline. May I ask you once more, Pew 448 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,200 to wait for me in the adjoining apartment. He moved 449 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,759 towards the door. When he had taken a couple of steps, 450 00:24:37,759 --> 00:24:41,880 he halted, I hope trest that you're you're going to 451 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,759 play no tricks on me, tricks on you? Is it 452 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:47,920 likely I'm going to play tricks on my oldest friend. 453 00:24:48,759 --> 00:24:50,799 When he had gone, he vanished, It seemed to me 454 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,440 with a somewhat doubtful visage. I took the crystal to 455 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:56,880 the window, and I drew the blind. I let the 456 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:01,480 sunshine fall on it. I examined it again closely and minutely, 457 00:25:01,519 --> 00:25:04,440 with the aid of my pocket lens. It was a diamond. 458 00:25:04,839 --> 00:25:07,200 There could not be any doubt of it. If with 459 00:25:07,319 --> 00:25:10,279 my knowledge of stones, I was deceived. And I was 460 00:25:10,319 --> 00:25:13,720 deceived as never a man had been deceived before. My 461 00:25:13,799 --> 00:25:16,200 heart beat faster as I recognized the fact that I 462 00:25:16,279 --> 00:25:19,279 was holding in my hand what was, in all probability 463 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,160 a fortune for a man of moderate desires. Of course, 464 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:25,720 Pew knew nothing of what I had discovered, and there 465 00:25:25,759 --> 00:25:28,240 was no reason why he should know not the least. 466 00:25:28,799 --> 00:25:30,920 The only difficulty was that if I kept my own 467 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,039 counsel and sold the stone and utilized the proceeds of 468 00:25:34,079 --> 00:25:36,640 the stale. I should have to invent a story which 469 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,000 would account for my sudden accession to fortune. Pew knows 470 00:25:40,039 --> 00:25:42,559 almost as much of my affairs as I do of myself. 471 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:46,839 That's the worst of these old friends. When I joined Pew, 472 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:48,759 I found him dancing up and down on the floor 473 00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:51,799 like a bear upon hot plates. He scarcely allowed me 474 00:25:51,839 --> 00:25:54,240 to put my nose inside the door before attacking me. 475 00:25:54,799 --> 00:25:58,559 Press give me what was in the box, My dear Pew, 476 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:00,359 how do you know there was something in the box 477 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,839 to give you? I know there was. Indeed, if you 478 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:05,799 know there was something in the box, perhaps you will 479 00:26:05,799 --> 00:26:09,200 tell me what that something was. He eyed me doubtfully, 480 00:26:09,559 --> 00:26:12,960 Then advancing, he laid upon my arm a hand which 481 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:17,519 positively trembled. Tress you. You wouldn't play tricks on an 482 00:26:17,519 --> 00:26:20,720 old friend, you're write, Pew. I wouldn't, though I believe 483 00:26:20,759 --> 00:26:22,640 there have been occasions on which you have had doubts 484 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,599 upon the subject. By the way, Pew, I believe I 485 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,359 am the oldest friend that you have. I I don't 486 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:33,400 know about that. There's Brasher, Brasher, who's Brasher? You wouldn't 487 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,680 compare my friendship to the friendship of such a man 488 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,400 as Brasher. Think of the taste we have in common, 489 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,359 you and I. We're both collectors, Yes, we're both collectors. 490 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,640 I make my interest yours and you make your interests mine. 491 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:50,000 Isn't that true? Pew? Tress what was in the box? 492 00:26:51,079 --> 00:26:53,599 I'll be frank with you, Pew, if there had been 493 00:26:53,599 --> 00:26:56,039 something in the box, would you have been willing to 494 00:26:56,039 --> 00:26:59,839 go halves with me in your discovery? Go halves in 495 00:27:00,079 --> 00:27:04,440 your discovery? Trash? Give me what was mine with pleasure, Pew, 496 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,079 if you will tell me what is yours. If you 497 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:10,359 don't give me what was in the box, I'll send 498 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:14,279 for the police. Do then I'll be able to hand 499 00:27:14,279 --> 00:27:15,880 them what was in the box in order that it 500 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,240 may be restored to its proper owner. It's proper owner. 501 00:27:19,279 --> 00:27:22,720 I'm its proper owner. Excuse me, but I don't understand 502 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,160 how that can be, at least until the police have 503 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,240 made inquiries. I should say that the proper owner was 504 00:27:28,279 --> 00:27:31,039 the person from whom you purchased the box, or more 505 00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,759 probably the person from whom he purchased it, and by whom, 506 00:27:34,839 --> 00:27:38,759 doubtless it was sold in ignorance or by mistake. Thus, Pew, 507 00:27:39,319 --> 00:27:41,359 if you will only send for the police. We shall 508 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,720 learn the gratitude of a person of whom we've never 509 00:27:43,759 --> 00:27:46,880 heard of in our lives. I for discovering the contents 510 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,960 of the box and you for returning them. As I 511 00:27:50,039 --> 00:27:53,519 said this, Pew's face was a study. He gasped for breath. 512 00:27:53,799 --> 00:27:57,279 He actually took out his handkerchief to wipe his brow. Truss, 513 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,599 I don't think you need to use a tone like 514 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,160 that with me. It isn't friendly. What what was in 515 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:08,039 the box? Let us understand each other, Pew. If you 516 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,119 don't hand over what was in the box to the police, 517 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:14,799 I go halves. Pew began to dance on the floor. 518 00:28:15,279 --> 00:28:17,559 What a fool I was to trust you with the box? 519 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,160 I knew I couldn't trust you. I said nothing. I 520 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,279 turned and rang the bell. What's that for that, my 521 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,400 dear Pew, is for breakfast, and if you desire it 522 00:28:27,559 --> 00:28:31,799 for the police. You know, although you have breakfasted, I haven't. 523 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:35,759 Perhaps while I'm breakfast breaking my fast, you would like 524 00:28:35,799 --> 00:28:39,559 to summon the representatives of law and order. Bob came in. 525 00:28:39,599 --> 00:28:41,880 I ordered breakfast, and then I turned to Pew. Is 526 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:47,160 there anything else you'd like? No, I've breakfasted. It wasn't 527 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,480 of breakfast. I was thinking it was of something else. 528 00:28:50,799 --> 00:28:53,359 Bob is at your service, if, for instance, you wish 529 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,839 to send him on an errand no, I want nothing, 530 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,519 Bob can go. Bob went directly. He was gone, and 531 00:29:00,559 --> 00:29:04,359 Bob Pew turned to me. You shall have half what 532 00:29:04,519 --> 00:29:08,200 was in the box. I shall have half, you shall. 533 00:29:09,319 --> 00:29:11,440 I don't think it's necessary that the terms of our 534 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,319 little understanding should be expressly embodied in black and white. 535 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,759 I fancy that under the circumstances I can trust you, Pew. 536 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,480 I believe that I am capable of seeing that in 537 00:29:21,519 --> 00:29:24,599 this matter, you don't do me. That was in the box. 538 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,519 I held out the crystal between my finger and thumb. 539 00:29:28,279 --> 00:29:31,160 What is it? That is what I desire to learn? 540 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,880 Let me look at it. You're welcome to look at 541 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,200 it where it is, look at it as long as 542 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,440 you like, and as closely. Pew leaned over my hand. 543 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,000 His eyes began to gleam. He is himself not a 544 00:29:44,039 --> 00:29:48,279 bad judge of precious stones, as Pew. It's it's tress. 545 00:29:48,319 --> 00:29:53,200 It's a diamond. That question, I've already asked myself. Let 546 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:55,400 me look at it. It'll be safe with me, it's mine. 547 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,279 I immediately put the thing behind my back. Pardon me. 548 00:29:59,559 --> 00:30:02,799 It belongs to neither you or me. It belongs in 549 00:30:02,839 --> 00:30:05,559 all probability to the person who sold that puzzle to 550 00:30:05,599 --> 00:30:08,400 the man from whom you bought it. Perhaps some weeping 551 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:12,640 widow pew or hopeless orphan think of it. Let us 552 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,880 have no further misunderstanding upon that point, my dear old friend. Still, 553 00:30:17,319 --> 00:30:20,160 because you are my dear old friend, I'm willing to 554 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,720 trust you with this discovery of mine, on condition that 555 00:30:22,799 --> 00:30:25,240 you don't attempt to remove it from my sight, and 556 00:30:25,279 --> 00:30:29,720 that you return it to me the moment I require you. 557 00:30:28,839 --> 00:30:33,319 You're very hard on me. I made a movement towards 558 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,599 my waistcoast pocket. I'll return it to you. I handed 559 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:39,480 him the crystal, and with it, I handed it in 560 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,960 my pocket lens. With the aid of that glass, I 561 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:44,920 imagine that you will be able to subject it to 562 00:30:45,039 --> 00:30:49,160 more cute examination. Pew. He began to examine it through 563 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,799 the lens. Directly he did so, he gave an exclamation. 564 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,400 In a few moments, he looked up at me. His 565 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,799 eyes were glistening behind his spectacles. I could see he trembled. 566 00:30:59,039 --> 00:31:03,200 Press it's a diamond, a Brazil diamond. It's worth a fortune. 567 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,359 I'm glad you think so, glad I think so. Don't 568 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:08,480 you think it's a diamond. It appears to be a 569 00:31:08,519 --> 00:31:12,039 diamond under ordinary conditions, I should say without hesitation that 570 00:31:12,079 --> 00:31:14,960 it was a diamond. But when I consider the circumstances 571 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,200 of its discovery, I'm driven to doubts. How much did 572 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:22,400 you give for that puzzle? Pew? Ninepence? The fellow wanted 573 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:27,279 a shilling, but I gave him ninepence. He seemed content ninepence. 574 00:31:27,839 --> 00:31:30,720 Does it seem reasonable that we should find a diamond, which, 575 00:31:30,759 --> 00:31:33,200 if it is a diamond, is the finest stone I 576 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,799 ever saw and handled in a ninepenny puzzle. It is 577 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,599 not as though it ever got into the thing by accident. 578 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,000 It had evidently been placed there to be found, and 579 00:31:43,079 --> 00:31:46,599 apparently by anyone who chanced to solve the puzzle witnessed 580 00:31:46,599 --> 00:31:50,559 this writing on the scrap of paper. Pew re examined 581 00:31:50,559 --> 00:31:53,920 the crystal. It is a diamond. I'll state my life 582 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,279 that it's a diamond. Still, though it be a diamond, 583 00:31:57,319 --> 00:32:01,359 I smell a rat. What do you mean? I strongly 584 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,000 suspect that the person who placed that diamond inside the 585 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,160 puzzle intended to have a joke at the expense of 586 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,279 the person who discovered it. What was to be the 587 00:32:09,359 --> 00:32:11,200 nature of the joke is more than I can say 588 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,440 at present, But I should like to have a bet 589 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,759 with you that the man who compounded that puzzle was 590 00:32:15,799 --> 00:32:19,200 an ingenious, practical joker. I may be wrong, Pew, we 591 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,400 shall see, But until I have proved to the contrary, 592 00:32:22,759 --> 00:32:25,279 I don't believe that the maddest man ever lived would 593 00:32:25,279 --> 00:32:27,680 throw away a diamond worth apparently, shall we say, a 594 00:32:27,759 --> 00:32:31,519 thousand pounds a thousand pounds, This diamond is worth a 595 00:32:31,519 --> 00:32:35,079 good deal more than a thousand pounds. Well, that only 596 00:32:35,119 --> 00:32:38,160 makes my case stronger. I don't believe that the maddest 597 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,400 man that ever lived would throw away a diamond worth 598 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,119 more than a thousand pounds with such other wantonness as 599 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:46,799 seemed to have characterized in the action of the original 600 00:32:46,839 --> 00:32:50,200 owner of the stone which I found in your ninepenny puzzle. Pew. 601 00:32:51,599 --> 00:32:54,920 There have been some eccentric characters in the world, some 602 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,480 very eccentric characters. However, as you say, we shall see, 603 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:03,480 I fancy that I know someone who would be quite 604 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,519 willing to have such a diamond as this and moreover 605 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,359 would be willing to pay a fair price for its possession. 606 00:33:09,759 --> 00:33:12,200 I will take it to him and see what he says. Pew, 607 00:33:12,519 --> 00:33:15,160 hand me back that diamond, my dear Tress. I was 608 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,599 only going to Bob came in with the breakfast tray. Pew, 609 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:21,160 you will either hand that back to me at once, 610 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,359 or Bob shall summon the representatives of law and order. 611 00:33:25,839 --> 00:33:28,799 He handed me the diamond, I sat down to breakfast 612 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:32,079 with a hearty appetite. Pugh stood and scowled at me. 613 00:33:33,279 --> 00:33:36,440 Joseph Tress. It is my solemn conviction, and I have 614 00:33:36,559 --> 00:33:39,680 no hesitation in saying so in plain English, that you're 615 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,319 a thief, My dear Pew. It seems to me that 616 00:33:43,359 --> 00:33:46,440 we show every promise of becoming a couple of thieves. 617 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,480 Don't bracket me with you, not at all. You are 618 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:53,279 worse than I. It is you declined to return the 619 00:33:53,319 --> 00:33:56,400 contents of the box to its proper owner. Put it 620 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,880 to yourself. You have some common sense, my dear old friend. 621 00:34:00,559 --> 00:34:02,559 Do you suppose that a diamond worth more than a 622 00:34:02,599 --> 00:34:05,880 thousand pounds is to be honestly bought for a ninepence? 623 00:34:07,079 --> 00:34:09,400 He resumed his old trick of dancing round the room. 624 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:13,679 I was a fool ever to let you have the box. 625 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,519 I ought to have known better than to have trusted you. 626 00:34:16,599 --> 00:34:20,000 Goodness knows you have given me sufficient cause to mistrust 627 00:34:20,039 --> 00:34:24,400 you over and over again. Your character is only too notorious. 628 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,440 You have plundered friend and fowl alike, friend and fowl alike. 629 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,199 As for the rubbish which you call your collection, nine 630 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,920 tenths of it I know is a positive fact you 631 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,679 have stolen out and out? Who stole my rod? Sir 632 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:42,760 Walter Rawleigh Pipe wasn't a man, nam Pew. Look here, 633 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,840 Joseph Tress, I'm looking. Oh, it's no good talking to you, 634 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:49,760 not in the least you're You're dead to all the 635 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:53,239 promptings of conscience. May I inquire, mister Trest, what it 636 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,599 is you propose to do. I propose to do nothing 637 00:34:57,079 --> 00:35:00,280 except some of the representatives of law and order fail that, 638 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:04,719 my dear Pew. I had some faint, vague, very vague 639 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,840 idea of taking the contents of your ninepenny puzzle to 640 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,280 a certain firm in hatt and Garden who are dealers 641 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,800 in precious stones, and to learn from them if they 642 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,119 are disposed to give anything for it. If so what, 643 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:20,039 I shall come with you with pleasure, on condition that 644 00:35:20,119 --> 00:35:23,480 you pay the cab. I pay the cab. I'll pay half, 645 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:26,440 not at all. You either pay the whole fare or 646 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:28,360 else I will have one cab and you'll have another. 647 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,880 Is a three shilling cab fare from here to Hatton Garden. 648 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:34,760 If you propose to share my cab, you'll be so 649 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,440 good as to hand over that three shillings before we start. 650 00:35:38,039 --> 00:35:41,199 He gasped, but he handed over the three shillings. There 651 00:35:41,199 --> 00:35:43,320 are a few things I enjoy so much as getting 652 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:47,280 money out of Pew. On the road to Hatton Garden. 653 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,360 We wrangled nearly all the way. I own that I 654 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:54,280 feel certain satisfaction, irritating Pew. He is such an irritable man. 655 00:35:55,079 --> 00:35:56,920 He wanted to know what I thought we should get 656 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,760 for the diamond. You can't expect to get munch for 657 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,159 the tense of a ninepenny puzzle, not even the price 658 00:36:03,159 --> 00:36:06,360 of a cabfare. Pew. He eyed me, but for some 659 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,559 minutes he was silent. Then he began again, Truss, I 660 00:36:10,559 --> 00:36:12,239 don't think we ought to let it go for less 661 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:16,400 than five thousand pounds. Seriously, Pew, I doubt whether when 662 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,280 the whole affair is ended, we shall get a five 663 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:22,000 thousand pence for it, or for that matter, five thousand farthings. 664 00:36:22,639 --> 00:36:27,719 Why not? Why not? It's a magnificent stone, magnificent. I'll 665 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:31,000 stake my life on it. I tapped my breast with 666 00:36:31,079 --> 00:36:34,800 the tips of my fingers. There's a warning voice within 667 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,760 my breast that ought to be in yours, Pew. Something 668 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,599 tells me, perhaps it is the unusually strong vein of 669 00:36:40,639 --> 00:36:43,760 common sense which I possess, that the contents of your 670 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,320 ninepenny puzzle will be found to be in magnificent Dew, 671 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:51,440 an ingenious, practical joke, my friend. I don't believe it, 672 00:36:52,199 --> 00:36:54,480 but I think he did. At any rate, I had 673 00:36:54,519 --> 00:36:58,119 unsettled the foundations of his faith. We entered the Hat 674 00:36:58,159 --> 00:37:01,480 and Garden office side by side. In his anxiety not 675 00:37:01,599 --> 00:37:04,400 to let me get before him, Pew actually clung to 676 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:08,159 my arm. The office was divided into two parts by 677 00:37:08,199 --> 00:37:11,400 a counter which ran from wall to wall. I advanced 678 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:13,280 to a man who stood on the other side of 679 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:16,519 this counter. I want to sell you a diamond. We 680 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:21,519 want to sell you a diamond, interpolated Priw. I turned 681 00:37:21,519 --> 00:37:25,960 to Pew. I fixed him with my glance I want 682 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,679 to sell you a diamond here it is. What will 683 00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:31,079 you give me for it? Taking the crystal from my 684 00:37:31,119 --> 00:37:34,039 waistcoat pocket, I handed it to man on the other 685 00:37:34,079 --> 00:37:37,159 side of the counter directly. He got it between his 686 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,199 fingers and saw that it was that he had got. 687 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:43,400 I noticed a sudden gleam came into his eyes. This 688 00:37:43,679 --> 00:37:48,159 is this is a rather fine stone, Pugh nudged my arm. 689 00:37:48,599 --> 00:37:51,920 I told you so, paid no attention to Pew. What 690 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:55,320 will you give me for it? Do you mean, what 691 00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,280 will I give you for it? Cash down upon the nail? 692 00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,800 Just so, what will you give me for it? Cash 693 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,920 down upon the nail? The man turned the crystal over 694 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,800 and over in his fingers. Well, that's rather a large order. 695 00:38:09,519 --> 00:38:11,960 We don't often get a chance of buying such a 696 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,519 stone as this across the counter. What do you say, too, 697 00:38:15,679 --> 00:38:20,360 well to ten thousand pounds? Ten thousand pounds. It was 698 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:25,199 beyond my wildest imaginings. Pew gasp, he lurched against the counter. 699 00:38:25,599 --> 00:38:29,000 Ten thousand pounds, he echoed. The man on the other 700 00:38:29,039 --> 00:38:32,719 side glanced at him. I thought, a little curiously, if 701 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,880 you can give me references or satisfy me in any 702 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,599 way as to your bonafides. I am prepared to give 703 00:38:38,639 --> 00:38:41,760 you for this diamond an open check for ten thousand pounds, or, 704 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,719 if you prefer it, the cash instead, I stared, I 705 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,679 was not accustomed to see business transacted on quite such 706 00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:52,440 lines as those. We'll take it, murmured pew. I believe 707 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:54,960 he was too much overcomfort by his feelings to do 708 00:38:55,079 --> 00:38:59,159 more than murmur. I interposed, my dear sir, you will 709 00:38:59,159 --> 00:39:02,000 excuse my saying that you arrived very rapidly at your 710 00:39:02,039 --> 00:39:05,079 conclusion in your first place. How can you make sure 711 00:39:05,119 --> 00:39:08,800 that it is a diamond? The man behind the counter smiled, 712 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,719 I should be very ill fitted for the position which 713 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:14,079 I hold. If I could not tell a diamond directly 714 00:39:14,119 --> 00:39:17,159 I get sight of it, especially such a stone as this. 715 00:39:18,239 --> 00:39:21,239 But have you no tests you can apply. We have 716 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,519 tests which we can apply in cases when doubt exists. 717 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:27,800 But in this case there is no doubt whatsoever. I 718 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:30,159 am as sure that this is a diamond as I 719 00:39:30,199 --> 00:39:32,960 am sure that it is air I breathe. However, there 720 00:39:33,039 --> 00:39:36,519 is a test. There was a wheel close by the speaker. 721 00:39:37,119 --> 00:39:40,000 It was worked by a treatle. It was more like 722 00:39:40,039 --> 00:39:43,760 a superior sort of traveling tinker's grindstone than anything else. 723 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,119 The man behind the counter put his foot upon the treadle. 724 00:39:47,599 --> 00:39:51,000 The wheel began to revolve. He brought the crystal into 725 00:39:51,039 --> 00:39:54,679 contact with the swiftly revolving wheel. There was a sh 726 00:39:55,639 --> 00:39:59,280 and instantly his hand was empty. The crystal had vanished 727 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:03,159 into the air. Good Heavens, he gasped, I never saw 728 00:40:03,199 --> 00:40:05,920 such a look of amazement on a human countenance before 729 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:11,760 it splintered. PostScript, it was a diamond. Although it had splintered. 730 00:40:12,639 --> 00:40:15,480 In that fact lay the point of the joke. The 731 00:40:15,519 --> 00:40:18,960 man behind the counter had not been wrong. Examination of 732 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,960 such dust it could be collected, proved that fact beyond 733 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,559 a doubt. It was declared by experts that the diamond, 734 00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:28,719 at some period of its history, had been suggested to 735 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:32,079 intense and continued heat. The result had been to make 736 00:40:32,119 --> 00:40:35,000 it as brittle as glass. There could be no doubt 737 00:40:35,039 --> 00:40:38,000 that its original owner had been an expert too. He 738 00:40:38,079 --> 00:40:40,159 knew where he had got it from, and he probably 739 00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:42,960 knew what it had endured. He was aware that from 740 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,719 a mercantile's point of view, it was a worthless so 741 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,599 it could never have been cut. So, having a turn 742 00:40:48,679 --> 00:40:52,239 for humor of particular kind, he had devoted days and weeks, 743 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:55,480 I possibly months, to the construction of that puzzle. He 744 00:40:55,519 --> 00:40:58,960 had placed the diamond inside, and had enjoyed in anticipation 745 00:40:59,079 --> 00:41:04,400 in an imagination the alnishtar visions of the Lucky Finder. 746 00:41:05,159 --> 00:41:09,559 Pewbay blamed me for the catastrophe. He said, and still says, 747 00:41:09,639 --> 00:41:11,880 that if I had not, in a measure and quite 748 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:15,920 gratuitiously insisted on the test, the man behind the counter 749 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:18,599 would have been satisfied with the evidence of his organs 750 00:41:18,599 --> 00:41:20,920 of vision, and we should have been richer by ten 751 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:25,000 thousand pounds. But I did satisfy my conscience with the 752 00:41:25,039 --> 00:41:28,039 reflection that what I did, at any rate was honest, 753 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,199 though at the same time I am perfectly aware that 754 00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,639 such a reflection gives pew no sort of satisfaction.