The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 4Poe, Edgar Allan
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The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 4
Poe, Edgar Allan
American fiction -- 19th century; Fantasy fiction; Horror tales, American; Short stories
11. The box behind which the Automaton is placed, is precisely
three feet six inches long, two feet four inches deep, and two
feet six inches high. These dimensions are fully sufficient for
the accommodation of a man very much above the common size—and
the main compartment alone is capable of holding any ordinary man
in the position we have mentioned as assumed by the person
concealed. As these are facts, which any one who doubts them may
prove by actual calculation, we deem it unnecessary to dwell upon
them. We will only suggest that, although the top of the box is
apparently a board of about three inches in thickness, the
spectator may satisfy himself by stooping and looking up at it
when the main compartment is open, that it is in reality very
thin. The height of the drawer also will be misconceived by those
who examine it in a cursory manner. There is a space of about
three inches between the top of the drawer as seen from the
exterior, and the bottom of the cupboard—a space which must be
included in the height of the drawer. These contrivances to make
the room within the box appear less than it actually is, are
referrible to a design on the part of the inventor, to impress
the company again with a false idea, viz. that no human being can
be accommodated within the box.
12. The interior of the main compartment is lined throughout with
_cloth. _This cloth we suppose to have a twofold object. A
portion of _it _may form, when tightly stretched, the only
partitions which there is any necessity for removing during the
changes of the man’s position, viz: the partition between the
rear of the main compartment and the rear of the cupboard No. 1,
and the partition between the main compartment, and the space
behind the drawer when open. If we imagine this to be the case,
the difficulty of shifting the partitions vanishes at once, if
indeed any such difficulty could be supposed under any
circumstances to exist. The second object of the cloth is to
deaden and render indistinct all sounds occasioned by the
movements of the person within.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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