niscence probably
influenced his fancy also in another direction; for it seemed to him
that very faintly, as though played far off, and with the _sordino_,
he could hear the air of the _Gagliarda_. He put one hand behind the
picture to steady it, and as he did so his finger struck a very slight
projection in the wall. He pulled the picture a little to one side, and
saw that what he had touched was the back of a small hinge sunk in the
wall, and almost obliterated with many coats of paint. His curiosity
was excited, and he took a candle from the table and examined the wall
carefully. Inspection soon showed him another hinge a little further up,
and by degrees he perceived that one of the panels had been made at some
time in the past to open, and serve probably as the door of a cupboard.
At this point he assured me that a feverish anxiety to re-open this
cupboard door took possession of him, and that the intense excitement
filled his mind which we experience on the eve of a discovery which
we fancy may produce important results. He loosened the paint in the
cracks with a penknife, and attempted to press open the door; but his
instrument was not adequate to such a purpose, and all his efforts
remained ineffective. His excitement had now reached an overmastering
pitch; for he anticipated, though he knew not why, some strange
discovery to be made in this sealed cupboard. He looked round the room
for some weapon with which to force the door, and at length with his
penknife cut away sufficient wood at the joint to enable him to insert
the end of the poker in the hole. The clock in the New College Tower
struck one at the exact moment when with a sharp effort he thus forced
open the door. It appeared never to have had a fastening, but merely to
have been stuck fast by the accumulation of paint. As he bent it slowly
back upon the rusted hinges his heart beat so fast that he could
scarcely catch his breath, though he was conscious all the while of a
ludicrous aspect of his position, knowing that it was most probable
that the cavity within would be found empty. The cupboard was small but
very deep, and in the obscure light seemed at first to contain nothing
except a small heap of dust and cobwebs. His sense of disappointment was
keen as he thrust his hand into it, but changed again in a moment to
breathless interest on feeling something solid in what he had imagined
to be only an accumulation of mould and dirt. He snatched up a candl