close by on an adjoining table, and boys and girls gathered round,
one and all on the tip-toe of eager expectation.

"The first thing will be to get these seals off the padlocks," said Mr.
Ormond. "Now, how are we going to do that? Old Uncle Roger certainly
wasn't sparing of his wax."

"I've got an old chisel that'll do it!" cried Brian. "I'll fetch it, if
you'll wait half a minute."

"Well, make haste!" cried Guy impatiently.

"It seems almost a shame to break the seals," said Ida, stooping to
examine them. "The impression is so clear that I can read the words of
the motto."

"Oh, bother the seals!" said her brother. "We can't see what's inside
the box until they are broken."

A moment later Brian came bounding back with his chisel. Mr. Ormond took
the tool, and soon chipped the wax away from the face of the locks.

"Now," he remarked, with a smile, "what should you say if we found I'd
lost the keys?"

"Say!" cried Guy. "Oh, I should say, Burst it open somehow. Get the
wood-axe, or the coal-hammer."

"I don't think there'll be any need for such extreme measures,"
answered his father. "Go to the top drawer on the left-hand side of
that writing-table, and in it you'll find two keys on a steel ring."

The keys were produced, the padlocks unfastened and removed. The supreme
moment had arrived, and the children crowded round holding their breath.

"Now then, children," said Mr. Ormond, preparing to raise the lid. "Are
you all quite ready? Very well, then. One--two--three!"

There was a moment of astonished silence as the whole company bent over
the opened chest. With a sort of gasp, Ida broke the spell. "_Empty!_"
she cried.

It was perfectly true; the box was as empty as Mother Hubbard's famous
cupboard.

"What a sell!" cried Guy, and burst out laughing. The disappointment was
almost too much for Elsie; the tears came into her eyes, and her lips
trembled.

"Cheer up, little woman!" said her father kindly. "It might have been
worse. D'you remember the story in the 'Arabian Nights' of the fisherman
who dragged a brass bottle out of the sea, and when he had broken the
seals and taken out the stopper a great genie rushed forth in a cloud
of smoke, telling the unfortunate man to choose what death he would die?
Suppose, now, the same sort of creature came out of this box."

"I do call it a lot too bad!" exclaimed Ida. "D'you think Uncle Roger
really did it on purpose, and left you only an empty box?"

"I'm