Page:Bierce - Collected Works - Volume 08.djvu/190

176 compelled to inflict were conspicuous. As in the presence of a miracle, the people were silent; awe and terror had stilled every tongue. I was myself greatly affected.

Some three years later, when the events herein related had nearly faded from my memory, I went to New York to assist in passing some counterfeit United States bonds. Carelessly looking into a furniture store one day, I saw the exact counterpart of that book- case. "I bought it for a trifle from a reformed inventor," the dealer explained. "He said it was fireproof, the pores of the wood being filled with alum under hydraulic pressure and the glass made of asbestos. I don't suppose it is really fireproof— you can have it at the price of an ordinary book-case."

"No," I said, "if you cannot warrant it fireproof I won't take it" — and I bade him good morning.

I would not have had it at any price: it revived memories that were exceedingly disagreeable,