chisel. It seemed to him that the crack widened, so that he was able to
press the blade of the chisel down to its thickest part. He now worked it
eagerly backward and forward, and, to his delight, the crack rapidly
widened still further; in fact, the short board was sliding back
underneath the wainscot. A small oblong cavity was thus revealed, into
which the young discoverer glowered with beating heart and vast
anticipations.

What he found could scarcely be said to do those anticipations justice; it
was neither a casket of precious stones, nor a document establishing the
family right of ownership of the whole county of Sussex. It was nothing
more than a tarnished rod of silver, about nine inches in length, and
twisted into an irregular sort of corkscrew shape. One end terminated in a
broad flat button; the other in a blunted point. There was nothing else in
the hole--nothing to show what the rod was meant for, or why it was so
ingeniously hidden there. And yet, reflected Archibald, could it have been
so hidden, and its place of concealment so mysteriously indicated, without
any ulterior purpose whatever? It was incredible! Why, the whole portrait
was evidently painted with no other object than that of indicating the
rod's whereabouts. Either, then, there was or had been something else in
the cavity in addition to the rod, or the rod was intended to be used in
some way still unexplained. So much was beyond question.

Thus cogitated Archibald--that is to say, thus he might have cogitated, for
there is no direct evidence of what passed through his mind. And, in the
first place, he made an exhaustive examination of the cavity, and
convinced himself not only that there was nothing else except dust to be
got out of it, but also that it opened into no other cavity which might
prove more fruitful. His next step was to study the silver rod, in the
hope that scrutiny or inspiration might suggest to him what it was good