After removing the paper which formed the outer covering, I found a tin
box, the lid of which had been carefully soldered down. As the reader
already knows, I had lost or mislaid my knife and, therefore, had
nothing with which to open the box. My disappointment was intense. It
had become so hallowed an object I dared not crush it with a stone,
which I refrained from doing upon that ground, and upon the further
ground that I knew not its contents and feared to damage them by such an
operation.
At this point I was attracted by a noise behind me in the woods. My
curiosity overcame my disappointment and I hastened away to discover the
cause of the disturbance.
In a little glen, I saw two monstrous stags engaged in battle. They
rushed together with such force that the striking of their antlers
caused streams of fire to fly forth. Though I stood quite near them,
they were so intent upon each other’s destruction they observed not my
presence.
As I viewed the combat, a happy thought struck upon my mind.
I was by nature very agile, and as the stags came together at the next
onslaught I so held my box as to permit a stream of fire from their
horns to fly upon the solder on one side of the lid, and so great was
the heat therefrom that the solder quickly melted and ran upon the
ground. By turning the other side and ends in quick succession, I soon
left my angry friends, for such they had been to me, and betook myself
to my retreat, with the lid in one hand and the box in the other.
I seated myself upon a log, which lay upon the edge of a precipice, as I
now may state, although at the time so absorbed was I in solving the
mystery I did not observe that fact.
The first thing I came to in the box was a sheet of paper, carefully
folded so as to fit snugly therein. Just as I had withdrawn it, some
insect, probably a wasp or a yellow-jacket, stung me so sharply upon the
foot that I lifted that member with enough animation to throw myself
backward from the log and over the precipice.
With an intention to stop my progress through the underbrush, I had
loosened my hold upon the box and also upon the paper. I caught upon a
root and held on, thus hanging suspended between heaven and earth. As I
glanced about me, I saw the paper floating off upon a gust of wind,
wending its way I knew not whither.
[Illustration]
I gazed with longing eyes upon it. But my longing was superseded by
determination as I remembered my bow and arrows, which I always carried
with me.
Quickly adjusting a heavy arrow I sent the bolt speeding onward. I did
not wish to tear the paper; for, in so doing, I might destroy the
message it contained. In avoiding this I was favored by the great
distance to which the paper had flown. I had given the arrow such a
proper upward curve it came gently down upon the paper and carried it
softly to earth by the pressure, only, of its own weight.
To extricate myself from my dilemma and recover the paper I set myself
about, and it was soon accomplished; for, finding the root upon which I
had lodged extended a great distance along the cliff, I had but to cut
one end of it and climb down it as it hung suspended.
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