“ItstrikesmethatthepuzzleconsistsinfindingouthowitispossibletogotosleepwithPugh’spurchaseinyourbedroom。Thisisfarbetterthantheold-fashionedprescriptionofcatsonthetiles。“
Itstruckmethenoisewasdistinctlylouderthanbefore；thisappliedbothtothetick，tick，tick，andthescreeching。
“Possibly，“Itoldmyself，asIrelightedthegas，“theexplosionistocomeoffthistime。“
Iturnedtolookatthebox。Therecouldbenodoubtaboutit；thenoisewaslouder。And，ifIcouldtrustmyeyes，theboxwasmoving——givingaseriesoflittlejumps。Thismighthavebeenanopticaldelusion，butitseemedtomethatateachticktheboxgavealittlebound。Duringthescreeches——whichsoundedmorelikethecriesofananimalinanagonyofpaineventhanbefore——ifitdidnottiltitselffirstononeend，andthenonanother，Ishallneverbewillingtotrusttheevidenceofmyowneyesagain。Andsurelytheboxhadincreasedinsize；Icouldhaveswornnotonlythatithadincreased，butthatitwasincreasing，evenasIstoodtherelookingon。Ithadgrown，andstillwasgrowing，bothbroader，andlonger，anddeeper。Pugh，ofcourse，wouldhaveattributedittosupernaturalagency；thereneverwasamanwithsuchanoseforaghost。Icouldpicturehimoccupyingmyposition，shiveringinhisnightshirt，ashebeheldthatmiracletakingplacebeforehiseyes。Thesolutionwhichatoncesuggesteditselftome——andwhichwouldNEVERhavesuggesteditselftoPugh！——
wasthattheboxwasfashioned，asitwere，inlayers，andthattheingeniousmechanismitcontainedwasforcingthesidesatoncebothupwardandoutward。Itookitinmyhand。Icouldfeelsomethingstrikingagainstthebottomofthebox，likethetap，tap，tappingofatinyhammer。