I saw at once that he suspected this useless silver ornamentation concealed some secret hiding-place in which the bottles of the poison and its antidote were hidden, and I could not help admiring the wonderful cleverness of the man in thinking of such an extraordinary idea, particularly as I saw at once that if the poison were anywhere it would be in some such ingenious hiding-place. After running his hands twice or thrice over the lid, he shook his head with an angry ejaculation, and desisted from his apparently useless task. "Dame! it's not on the top, that's certain," he said, stamping his foot with vexation. "My fingers never, deceive me, and I'm sure I haven't missed anything. From what I've told you I don't think it can be within the coffin. Ecco! let us try the sides." He carefully wiped the tips of his fingers with his handkerchief, and beginning at the side nearest the head ran his fingers delicately along the cold silver work. Nothing was discoverable at the side, but when he came to the end of the coffin at the feet of the corpse he gave a cry of triumph which brought me at once to his side. "Bravo, Hugo! what did I tell you! The poison-bottle was in the silver work. Behold, infidel, how truly I speak. Ecco!" The decoration at this narrow end was a heart-shape shield, bearing the arms of the Morone family and wreathed with flowers, but this shield, which curved outward had a spring at the top. In touching this, the whole shield fell downward, working on a single hinge, and there was a cavity in which a small bottle might easily be concealed. "I see the hiding-place, Beltrami; but where is the poison!" "Eh! have you forgotten the visit of the Contessa, mon ami?" "No, no! of course not! She, no doubt, took the poison away, and, I daresay, the antidote with it." "Mon cher, I will never make anything of you," cried the Marchese in despair; "what did I tell you about that letter?" "You said that no doubt as the Count was afraid of it being found by his wife he would only mention where the poison was concealed, and keep silent about the antidote." "Ebbene! The Contessa knew nothing of the existence of the antidote, so when she found the poison she thought she had found all. Is that not so, you stupid Englishman?" "Yes, I suppose so." "Good! Well I, knowing of the existence of the antidote not mentioned in the letter, and only finding the poison at the feet, would naturally look for the antidote--where?" "I daresay at the head," I suggested, after a pause; upon which Beltrami laughed, and walked to the other end of the coffin. "Of course; it would be the most natural thing to do. Behold, mon ami!" He touched the top of a similar shield at the head of the coffin; it fell stiffly outward, and lo! in the hollow of the curve, lay a small bottle, which Beltrami took in his hand, and then restored the shield to its former position.