UNCLE ROGER'S BOX.
"Hullo! What d'you want?"
"Come here a minute."
[Illustration]
In three days the incident of the grindstone had been almost forgotten,
and Elsie was no longer troubled by any more of Guy's chaff on the
subject of her night alarm. At the present moment she was standing in
her father's library, and had called to her cousin, who happened to be
passing outside in the passage.
"Well, what d'you want?" he repeated as he entered the room.
"Look!" said Elsie, pointing with her finger; "only two more days, and
it'll be time to open _that_. Aren't you longing to know what's inside?"
The object in question stood stowed away in a dark corner of the room,
and the children all knew its history. It was an oak box or small chest,
dark with age and strongly bound with bands of iron; the panels were
ornamented with rough carvings of dragons and other curious beasts, and
where the iron clamps met they were secured with good-sized padlocks.
[Illustration: UNCLE ROGER'S BOX]
This box had stood in its present position ever since the children could
remember, and, indeed, it had been there before even Ida, the eldest of
the three, was born. It had been left to Mr. Ormond by an eccentric old
relative, who had given special instructions in his will that the chest
should not be opened for twenty years after the date of his death. The
children were never tired of speculating as to what would be found in
"Uncle Roger's Box," as it was called; and of late their interest in
the legacy had steadily increased as the time drew near when the riddle
would at last be answered.
"Father says he is going to open it on Thursday morning," continued
Elsie. "November the third; that's the exact date. I say, Brian, what
d'you think's inside?"
"I'm sure I don't know," answered the boy, laughing. "Old clothes,
perhaps."
"Oh, no; it's sure to be something valuable. Just fancy--it hasn't been
opened for twenty years! T-w-e-n-t-y years! That's twice as long as the
whole of my life!"
"Then," said Brian, who was good at mental arithmetic, "it's been shut
up for 7,300 days, all but two."
"And on Thursday morning it's to be opened!" cried Elsie, dancing round
the room. "I'm simply dying to know what's inside. I asked Sarah once
what she thought it would be, and she said she believed it must be
money. I dreamt once that I came down and saw it open, and that it was
full of the most lovely jewellery--chains, and rings, and bracelets,
with the most beautiful precious stones set in them, all colours of the
rainbow!"
"Good-night! Why didn't you collar a few? You might have grabbed a
handful, and given some to me."
"I was just going to, when I woke up," answered Elsie. "That's always
the way in dreams."
"I know," replied Brian, laughing. "I've dreamt I was turned loose in a
confectioner's shop, and I could have anything I liked; and just when I
was going to start on a plate of cheesecakes, Jane came hammering at the
door, saying it was time to get up. It's a queer old thing," he continued,
alluding to the box. "Let's have a look at the gentleman."
"It's pretty heavy," he continued, as he lifted the box out into the
light of the window; "but that may be the weight of the wood and iron.
I'm afraid it isn't full of gold, Elsie; if it were, I shouldn't be able
to move it at all."
"Look!" cried the little girl. "The locks can't be opened because they
are sealed. That thing like one of the chessmen with a leopard standing
on top putting his tongue out was Uncle Roger's crest. He did that
himself just before he died."
The front of each of the padlocks was ornamented with a big circular
lump of dark blue sealing-wax, on which the impression of the old
gentleman's seal was distinctly visible. While these remained unbroken
it was impossible to put a key into either of the locks.
"I suppose he did that to make sure that no one should open the box
before the proper time?"
"Yes," answered Elsie. "You see, even if a person had keys which would
fit the locks, he couldn't use them unless he first broke the seals;
and no one would do that, because it would show that the box had been
meddled with."
"But supposing you got some more blue wax of the same colour--" began
Brian. "But, no; of course you'd want the seal. What became of it, d'you
know?"
"Father's got it. He keeps it locked up in one of the drawers of the big
safe at his office. He showed it to us once. It's on the end of one of
those chains that old gentlemen used to wear hanging down under their
waistcoats."
At this point the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Guy
and Ida, who had just returned from a walk.
"Hullo!" cried the former. "What are you two doing with Uncle Roger's
box?"
"Only looking at it," answered Brian.
"What a crank the old chap must have been!" continued Guy. "Why didn't
he leave it in his will to be opened at once?"
"I've heard father say that he was always doing queer things," remarked
Ida. "Long after his wife died he wouldn't eat his meals unless her
place was laid for her opposite to him at table, where she used to sit.
For the last five years of his life they say he stayed in the house, and
never put his foot outside the door."
"Silly old chump!" remarked Guy. "I wonder if there really is anything
in this old box of his. Look here; I'll turn it up, and you listen and
tell me if you hear anything move inside."
"O Guy, don't! You may break something!" exclaimed his sister.
"Not I. I'll do it gently. Now listen." Slowly and cautiously he turned
the box on end, but its contents did not appear to move.
"I believe the blessed thing's empty!" cried the boy.
"I fancied I heard something sort of trickle about inside," said Elsie.
"Oh, you're always fancying something," said her brother. "You'll say
the grindstone's in there next."
"I thought I heard something too," exclaimed Brian. "But it was only
a very slight sound, such as a bit of loose wood might make--a chip,
perhaps, from off the inside of the lid."
Guy lowered the box, and turned it up again. "I do hear something," he
admitted. "It's a bit of wood, I expect. What a sell! I'm certain the
box is empty."
"Oh, nonsense; you can't tell," answered Ida. "It may be quite full of
something, and so tightly packed that the contents are wedged together,
and can't shake about when you move the box. Uncle Roger would never
have taken the trouble to seal the locks, and leave those instructions
in his will, if it were just an empty box."
"Well, here goes," said Brian. "I'm going to put it back in its place
again." And with these words he lifted the chest in his strong arms,
and returned it to its old corner. Guy remained for a moment balancing
himself on one foot.
"Let me see," he said; "what was it I meant to do? Oh, I know! Mend the
ring in Bob's collar. He's always getting loose. First I must get the
tweezers."
He ran off at once to find the tool, but on entering the kitchen was
at once pounced upon by the cook. Sarah had been at the Pines for many
years, and the young Ormonds had grown to regard her as quite one of the
family.
"Now, Master Guy," she began, "what business had you got to go and take
all my methylated spirit?"
"I haven't touched it," was the answer.
"Yes, you have, now. You've been and taken it for that there model steam
engine of yours. Why didn't you come and ask if you might have some?"
"I tell you I _haven't_ had any," persisted the boy.
"Now, Master Guy, you're telling fibs. The bottle was half full, or
nearly so, last week; and when I come to it this afternoon there wasn't
a drop left, and too late to send down into town and get any."
"Look here, Sarah; you can say what you like, but I haven't touched your
silly old bottle, so there! Jane must have taken the spirit, or else you
used it yourself."
The boy found the tweezers, and ran out into the yard. But Sarah was
still unconvinced. She had found her remaining stock of methylated
spirit entirely vanished; and as Guy had been known, on one or two
previous occasions, to borrow the bottle and help himself to its
contents when fuel was required for his model steam engine, she
naturally supposed him to be the culprit in the present instance.
Later on, when the family were assembled at the tea-table, Mrs. Ormond
herself referred to the matter.
"Guy," she said, "are you sure you haven't taken cook's methylated
spirit?"
"Quite sure, mother."
"I should be sorry to think that you weren't telling me the truth about
such a small matter, but I must say it does seem very strange. Sarah
goes and finds the bottle standing uncorked and empty, and I know myself
that there was some spirit in it a few days ago."
"Perhaps if the cork wasn't in the bottle the spirit had evaporated,"
suggested Elsie.
"I don't think it would do that," replied her mother, laughing. "I'm
rather inclined to think that it evaporated into the lamp of somebody's
steam engine."
"No, it didn't!" cried Guy. "Look here, mother; you might as well
believe a fellow when he tells you the truth."
"Well, if you tell me you didn't take it," replied Mrs. Ormond, "I must
believe you. All I can say is, it's very strange."
The meal over, the boys and girls retired to the breakfast-room; and
there, seated at the usual places round the table, they began to
prepare their work for the following day.
"Guy," said Ida suddenly, "are you _sure_ you were telling the truth
about that methylated spirit?"
"Of course I was! D'you think I'd lie?"
"You _do_ tell crams sometimes," put in Elsie, who was not going to
see her brother pose as an angel of light without having a word to say.
"Shut up, Elsie! I tell you I haven't been near the bottle. It's weeks
since I last worked the engine.--Isn't it, Brian?"
Brian looked up from his book. "Yes," he answered. "It's a month, I
should say. There was something wrong with the cylinder, and Cole put it
right."
"There, I told you so!" retorted Guy. "Now, perhaps you'll believe what
I say."
For some time no one spoke. Elsie finished one of her lessons, and sat
back in her chair for a moment's rest.
"I say," she murmured, "suppose Uncle Roger's box was full of bank-notes,
d'you suppose father would let us have a pony? I think I should ask him
to buy one."
Guy and Ida both looked up from their books.
"Get away!" cried the boy. "What rot! I wouldn't mind offering to pay
you a shilling for every bank-note that's found in that stupid old
chest. But, I say," he added, "fancy having a real live pony! It would
be ripping!"
[Illustration: ELSIE]