Pagina 635 di 657

"And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as

you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a

great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the

child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the

furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things.

There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones

empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two

with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was

naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It

struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight,

so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very

first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There

was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never

guess what it was. It was my coil of hair.