“Oh, Mary!” he cried; “Look! Here is a little keyhole! I believe we’ve found the clue to your key that was in the lantern. Have you got the key here? Quick, Mary!” Mary was shaking the box very gently. “Something rattles!” she said. “What do you suppose it is?” “Oh, do be careful. Maybe it is something breakable. Hurry and find out what it is!” begged John in the greatest excitement. Mary always wore the puzzling key about her neck, on the green silk cord which had come with it. She now pulled it out, and they carried the “Gems from Shakespeare” over to the table, so that they might see better under the lamp. Just then there came a knock at the door, and both children jumped as if they had been caught in doing something wrong. “Mary! John!” cried the voice of their mother, “where are you both? What in the world are you doing? I rang the bell for tea three times; and I never knew you both to be so late before!” “Oh, come in, Mother,” said Mary; “do come in, quickly!” The door opened, and there stood Mrs. Corliss with the Doctor close behind her. “I thought I heard you shouting at one another in here,” said Dr. Corliss. “What’s up? More surprises, eh? Something better than tea?” “Caliban looks as if he thought so,” said Mrs. Corliss. “See how his green eyes glitter!” “Oh, yes, Father!” said Mary; “it’s the most exciting surprise of all, we think; because Aunt Nan has taken pains to make it a part of her portrait.” “Part of the portrait! What do you mean, Mary?” exclaimed her father, advancing into the room, and like the rest of them forgetting all about tea in the excitement of the occasion. Mary showed them the “Gems from Shakespeare” with the keyhole in the end, and explained how the picture had guided them to it. They lighted the lamp hastily, and Dr. Corliss had to see just how the “slow unmoving finger” of Aunt Nan’s portrait pointed to the shelf in the corner where the “Gems” lived. “Why, yes!” exclaimed the Doctor, examining the picture still more closely than the children had done. “And now that I have a clue, I see something more, that you haven’t discovered. Look, children! Do you see what this book is on which Aunt Nan’s left hand is resting? It is a picture of this very same ‘Gems from Shakespeare,’ I can even make out a ‘G--S’ on the binding. But I never should have discovered it without your clue. I believe there is something in it, Mary!” And he looked as excited as any of them. “Well, do let’s find out what is in it!” urged Mrs. Corliss. “I can’t wait another minute!” “Neither can I!” cried John. “Hurry, Mary!” Mary took the little key and tried it in the keyhole. Yes, it just fitted. She turned it, and a lock clicked. “Lift the cover!” cried her father. And Mary opened what would have been the front cover of the book, if it had been a book which she was holding.