I made a suggestion.
"Supposing you open it," I said, "while I walk in the garden."
"My dear Mr. Anstruther," he said, quite frightened at giving me so much trouble, "that is not at all necessary. I can go into my little cabinet here."
He indicated a small room, the door of which stood partly open, and revealed a little study with a writing table and a reading lamp.
"If you will excuse me for five minutes," he added, "I will retire into that little room and open the casket!"
"But have you the keys?" I asked.
He nodded with a smile.
"Oh yes," he answered, "those three little locks and the secret of opening them are very familiar to me, but I have not seen it for a great many years."
I did not in the least understand what he was alluding to, but I, of course, urged him to retire into his little room and examine the contents of the casket in peace, while I amused myself in the study itself.
"You will find some marvellous stuffed specimens of the green lizard in those lower cases," he remarked, as he disappeared into his sanctum. "I should advise you to study them closely."