Sandy and Ken both dived for it as Richard Holt muttered, “That was stupid of me.”
“It can’t be hurt,” Pop said. “It’s made too solidly.”
Mr. Holt pressed the lid into place, but when he took his hand away it opened again. He tried a second time. Once more the lid refused to stay closed.
Five heads bent over to study the tiny mechanism.
Bert touched the little spring catch. “That’s what’s wrong,” he said. “The little lever is bent out of shape.”
“Maybe I can fix it,” Sandy offered.
“Better not try,” Pop cautioned. “An expensive antique like that—”
“It wasn’t expensive, I assure you,” Richard Holt said. “It—”
“Never mind,” Pop said. “It’s an antique and I don’t think anybody but Sam Morris ought to touch it. He’s the best jeweler in town. He can fix anything.”
Sandy offered to telephone Morris to see if he could take care of the job that evening. When he returned from the hall he reported that the jeweler was just then closing his shop, but that he had promised to repair the box the next day despite the rush of orders that always claimed his attention on Christmas Eve.