of vain thinking I bethought me, one day, that it would be easy to explode the box by unlocking it at a safe distance, and I arranged a plan with wires, which seemed as if it would answer. But when I reflected on what would happen when the dynamite scattered the rubies, I knew that I should be none the richer. For hours at a time I sat looking at that box and handling the key. At last I hung the key on my watch- guard; but then it occurred to me that it might be lost or stolen.
Dreading this, I hid it, fearful that someone might use it to open the box. This state of doubt and fear lasted for weeks, until I became nervous and began to dread that some accident might happen to that box. A burglar might come and boldly carry it away and force it open and find it was a wicked fraud of my uncle’s. Even the rumble and vibration caused by the heavy vans in the street became at last a terror.
Worst of all, my salary was reduced, and I saw that marriage was out of the question. In my despair I consulted Professor Clinch about my dilemma, and as to some safe way of getting at the rubies. He said that, if my uncle had not lied, there was none that would not ruin the stones, especially the pearls, but that it was a silly tale and altogether incredible . I offered him the biggest ruby if he wished to test his opinion.
He did not desire to do so. Dr. Schaff, my uncle’s doctor, believed the old man’s letter, and added a caution, which was entirely useless, for by this time I was afraid to be in the room with that terrible box. At last the doctor kindly warned me that I was in danger of losing my mind with too much thought about my rubies.
In fact, I did nothing else but contrive wild plans to get at them safely. I spent all my spare hours at one