The Bronze Hand Read online

  II. THE QUAKER-LIKE GIRL, THE PALE GIRL, AND THE MAN WITH A BRISTLING MUSTACHE.

  THE building mentioned by my new-found friend was well known to me. Itwas one of the kind in which every other office is unoccupied the yearround. Such tenants as gave it the little air of usefulness it possessedwere of the bad-pay kind. They gave little concern to their own affairsand less to those of their neighbors. The public avoided the building,and the tenants did nothing to encourage a change. In a populous city,on the corner made by frequented streets, it stood as much alone andneglected as if it were a ruin. Old or young eyes may have lookedthrough its begrimed windows into the busy thoroughfare beneath, butnone in the street ever honored the old place with a glance or thought.No one even wasted contempt upon its smoky walls, and few disturbed theaccumulated dust upon the stairs or in the dimly-lighted hallways.

  Had a place been sought for wherein the utmost secrecy might beobserved, surely this was that place. As I neared the door upon which Iread the doctor's name, I found myself treading on tip-toe, so impressedhad I become by a sense of caution, if not of dread.

  I had made every effort to be on hand at precisely ten o'clock, and feltso sure that I had been the first to arrive that I reached out to thedoor-knob with every expectation of entering, unseen by any one, andpossibly unheard. To my dismay, the first twist I gave it resulted in arusty shriek that set my teeth on edge, and echoed down the gloomy hall.With my flesh creeping, I opened the door and passed into the doctor'souter room.

  It was far from being empty. Seated in chairs ranged along two sides ofthe room, I saw a dozen or more persons, male and female. All wore thepreoccupied air that patients are apt to assume while awaiting theirturn to be called by the doctor. One amongst the number made an effortat indifference by drawing out and pushing back a nail in the flooringwith the sole of her pretty shoe. It may have been intended forcoquetry, and at another time might have bewitched me; now it seemedstrangely out of place. The man who was to all appearance counting theflies in the web of an industrious spider was more in keeping with theplace, my feelings, and the atmosphere of despondency that the room gaveout.

  As I had no doubt that the ring I was seeking was in the possession ofsome one of these persons, I gave each as minute an examination as waspossible under the circumstances. Only two amongst them appeared open tosuspicion. Of these, one was a young man whose naturally fine featureswould have prepossessed him in my favor had it not been for the peculiaralertness of his bright blue eye, which flashed incessantly in everydirection till each and all of us seemed to partake of his restlessnessand anxiety. Why was he not depressed? The other was the girl, or,rather, the young lady to whose pretty foot I have referred. If she wasat all conspicuous, it was owing to the contrast between her beautifulface and the Quaker-like simplicity of her dress. She was restless also;her foot had ceased its action, but her hand moved constantly. Nowit clutched its fellow in her lap, and now it ran in an oft-repeatedaction, seemingly beyond her control, up and down and round and round aplain but expensive leather bag she wore at her side. "She carries thering," thought I, sitting down in the chair next her.

  Meantime, I had not been oblivious of _the box_. It stood upon a plainoak table directly opposite the door by which I had come in. Itwas about a foot square, and was the only object in the room at allornamental. Indeed, there was but little else for the eye to rest on,consequently most of us looked that way, though I noticed that but fewseemed to take any real interest in that or anything else within sight.This was encouraging, and I was on the point of transferring my entireattention to the two persons I have named, when one of them, thenearest, rose hurriedly and went out.

  This was an unexpected move on her part, and I did not know what to makeof it. Had I annoyed her by my scrutiny, or had she divined my errand?In my doubt, I consulted the face of the man I secretly thought to beher accomplice. It was non-committal, and, in my doubt as to the meaningof all this, I allowed myself to become interested in a pale young womanwho had been sitting on the other side of the lady who had just left.She was evidently a patient who stood in great need of assistance. Herhead hung feebly forward, and her whole figure looked ready to drop. Yetwhen a minute later the door of the inner office opened, and the doctorappeared on the sill in an expectant attitude, she made no attempt torise, but pushed forward another woman who seemed less indisposed thanherself. I had to compel myself to think of all I saw as being real andwithin my experience.

  Surprised by this action on the part of one so ill, I watched the palegirl for an instant, and almost forgot my mission in the compassionaroused by her sickly appearance. But soon that mission and my motivefor being in this place were somewhat vividly recalled to me by anunexpected action on this very young woman's part. With the suddenmovement of an acutely suffering person, she bounded from her seat andcrossed the floor to where the box stood, gasping for breath, and almostfalling against the table when she reached it.

  A grunt from the good-looking young man followed; but neither he northe middle-aged female with a pitiful skin disease, who had been sittingnear her, offered to go to her assistance, though the latter looked asif she would like to. I was the only one to rise. The truth is, Icould see no one touch _the box_ without having something more than mycuriosity awakened. Approaching her respectfully, and with as complete adissimulation of my real feelings as possible, I ventured to say:

  "You are very ill, miss. Shall I summon the doctor?"

  She was clutching the side of the table for support, and her head,drooping helplessly over the box, was swaying from side to side as sherocked to and fro in her pain.

  "Thank you!" she gasped, without turning, "I will wait. I would ratherwait."

  At that moment the doctor's door opened again.

  "There he is now," said I.

  "I will wait," she insisted. "Let the others take their turn."

  Satisfied now that something besides pain caused her interest in thebox, I drew back, asking myself whether she had been in possession ofthe ring from the beginning, or whether it had been passed to her by herrestless neighbor. Meanwhile, another patient had disappeared into theadjoining room.

  A few minutes passed. The man with the restless eye began to fidget.Could it be that she was simply guarding the box, and that he was theone who wished to open it? As the doubt struck me, I surveyed hermore attentively. She was certainly doing something besides supportingherself with that sly right hand of hers. Yes, that was a click I heard.She was fitting a key into the lock. Startled, but determined notto betray myself, I assumed an air of great patience, and, taking amemorandum book from my pocket, began to write in it. Meantime, thedoctor had disposed of his second patient and had beckoned to a third.To my astonishment, my friend with the nervous manner responded, thusacquitting himself in my eyes from any interest in the box.

  The interview he had with the doctor lasted some time; meantime, theyoung woman in the window remained more or less motionless. When thefourth person left the room, she turned and cast a quick glance atmyself and the other person present.

  I knew what it meant. She was anxious to be left alone in order to liftthat mysterious lid. She was no more ill than I was.

  There was even a dash of color in her cheeks, and the trembling sheindulged in was caused by great excitement and suspense, and not bypain.

  Compassion at once gave way to anger, and I inwardly resolved not tospare her if we came into conflict over the box.

  My companion was an old and non-observant man, who had come in after therest of us. When the doctor again appeared, I motioned to this old manto follow him, which he very gladly did, leaving me alone with the palegirl. At once I got up, showing my fatigue and slightly yawning.

  "This is very tedious," I muttered aloud, and stepped idly towards thedoor leading into the hall.

  The girl at the box could not restrain her impatience. She cast meanother short glance. I affected not to see it; took out my watch,consulted it, put it back quickly and slipped out into the h
all. As Iclosed the door behind me, I heard a slight creak. Instantly I was backagain, and with so sudden a movement that I surprised her, with her facebent over the open box.

  "Oh, my poor young lady," I exclaimed, springing towards her with everyappearance of great concern. "You do not look able to stand. Lean on meif you feel faint, and I will help you to a seat."

  She turned upon me in a fury, but, meeting my eye, assumed an air ofcomposure, which did not impose upon me in the least, or prevent me frompressing close to her side and taking one look into the box, which shehad evidently not had sufficient self-possession to close.

  The sight which met my eye was not unexpected, yet was no lessinteresting on that account. A hand--_the_ hand--curiously made ofbronze, and of exquisite proportions, lay on its enamelled cushion, withrings on all of its fingers save one. That one I was delighted to seewas the middle one, proof positive that the mischief contemplated byMiss Calhoun had not yet been accomplished.

  Restored to complete self-possession by this discovery, I examined thebox and its contents with an air of polite curiosity. I surprised myselfby my self-possession and _bonhomie_.

  "What an odd thing to find in a physician's office!" I exclaimed."Beautiful, is it not? An unusual work of art; but there is nothing init to alarm you. You shouldn't allow yourself to be frightened at sucha thing as that." And with a quick action, she was wholly powerless toprevent, I shut down the lid, which closed with a snap.

  Startled and greatly discomposed, she drew back, hastily thrusting herhand behind her.

  "You are very officious," she began, but, seeing nothing but good naturein the smile with which I regarded her, she faltered irresolutely, andfinally took refuge again in her former trick of invalidism. Breakingout into low moanings, she fell back upon the nearest chair, from whichshe immediately started again with the quick cry, "Oh, how I suffer! Iam not well enough to be out alone." And turning with a celerity thatbelied her words, she fled into the hall, shutting the door violentlybehind her.

  Astonished at the completeness of my victory, I spent the first momentsof triumph in trying to lift the lid of the box. But it was securelylocked. I was just debating whether I could now venture to return to myseat, when the hall door reopened and a gentleman entered.

  He was short, sturdy and had a bristling black mustache. I needed tolook at him but once to be certain he was interested both in the box andme, and, while I gave no evidence of my discovery, I prepared myselffor an adventure of a much more serious nature than that which had justoccupied me.

  Modeling my behavior upon that of the young girl whose place I hadusurped, I placed my elbow on the box and looked out of the window. AsI did so I heard a shuffling in the adjoining room, and knew that inanother moment the doctor would again appear at the door to announcethat he was ready for another patient. How could I evade the summons?The man behind me was a determined one. He was there for the purposeof opening the box, and would not be likely to leave the room while Iremained in it. How, then, could I comply with the requirements of thesituation and yet prevent this new-comer from lifting the lid in myabsence? I knew of but one way--a way which had suggested itself tome during the long watches of the previous night, and which I had comeprepared to carry out.

  Taking advantage of my proximity to the box, I inserted in the keyhole asmall morsel of wax which for some minutes past I had been warming inmy hand. This done, I laid my hat down on the lid, noting with greatexactness as I did so just where its rim lay in reference to the varioussquares and scrolls with which the top was ornamented. By this means Ifelt that I might know if the hat were moved in my absence. The doctorhaving showed himself by this time, I followed him into his office witha calmness born of the most complete confidence in the strategy I hademployed.

  Dr. Merriam, whom I have purposely refrained from describing until now,was a tall, well-made man, with a bald head and a pleasant eye, butcareless in his attire and bearing. As I met that eye and responded tohis good-natured greeting, I inwardly decided that his interest in thebox was much less than his guardianship of it would seem to betoken.And when I addressed him and entered upon the subject of my friend'scomplaint, I soon saw by the depth of his professional interest thatwhatever connection he might have with the box, neither that nor anyother topic whatever could for a moment vie with his delight in a newand strange case like that of my poor friend. I consequently enteredinto the medical details demanded of me with a free mind and succeededin getting some very valuable advice, for which I was of course trulygrateful.

  As soon as this was accomplished I took my leave, but not by the usualdoor of egress. Saying that I had left my hat in the ante-room, I bowedmy acknowledgments to the doctor and returned the way I came. But notwithout meeting with a surprise. There was still but one person in theroom with the box, but that person was not the man with the bristlingmustache and determined eye whom I had expected to find there. It wasthe pretty, Quaker-like girl who had formerly aroused my suspicions; andthough she sat far from the box, a moment's glance at her flushed faceand trembling hands assured me she had but that moment left it.

  Going at once to the box, I saw that my hat had been moved. But moresignificant still was the hairpin lying on the floor at my feet, witha morsel of wax sticking to one of its points. This was conclusive. Theman had discovered why his key would not work, and had called to his aidthe young lady, who had evidently been waiting in the hall outside.

  She had tried to pick out the wax--a task in which I had happilyinterrupted her.

  Proud of the success of my device, and satisfied that the danger wasover for that day (it being well on to twelve o'clock), I said a fewwords more to the doctor, who had followed me into the room, and thenprepared to take my departure. But the young lady was more agile than I.Saying something about a very pressing engagement which would not allowher to consult the doctor that day, she hurried ahead of me and ranquickly down the long hall. The doctor looked astonished, but dismissedthe matter with a shrug; while, with the greatest desire to follow her,I stood hesitating on the threshold, when my eye fell on a small objectlying under the chair on which she had been sitting. It was the littleleathern bag I had seen hanging at her side.

  Catching it up, I explained that I would run after the young lady andrestore it; and glad of an excuse which would enable me to follow herthrough the streets without risking the suspicion of impropriety, Ihastened down the stairs and happily succeeded in reaching the pavementbefore her skirts whisked round the corner. I was therefore but a fewpaces behind her, which distance I took good care to preserve.