the box in paper; and so it has been since; three—four days, therefore."
"And it was tied with this string?"
"Yes; but—no! When I so foolishly show the emerald to Mr. Hereford I have untied the string. Afterward I do not again tie it, but only wrap the paper round."
McAdams pulled away carefully the wrappings of paper that still clung to the lower part of the box. It then could be seen that the box which had contained the great emerald was a huge and heavy thing, made entirely of iron or steel. Something over two feet high and about the same in breadth and a little more in length, its design was a stout, thick steel, square column, with the steel figure of a man squatted upon each face. Each figure was, indeed, little more than a high relief from the side of the column, and
