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ARRY was fast asleep, as usual, when Fen, who was still quite awake, heard a faint sound outside the port-hole and lay rigid with expectancy. The sound continued,—a queer little scratchy noise, as though something were trying to creep up the side of the yacht,—till suddenly a squarish, dark object appeared on the edge of the port-hole, against the pale circle of sky. It poised there for a moment, and then tumbled softly on to the bed. Fen reached for it eagerly, and found that it was a very small box made of dark wood, studded with bosses of brass here and there, and fastened with a small clasp. Fen's hand trembled a little as he opened the box and peered into it. A faint, musty