" Then she retired,
believing that negotiations had proceeded far enough for the
present.
Jeff went home feeling that he had been forewarned and forearmed.
Since her heart responded to a golden key only, he would keep that
key and use it judiciously.
During the early hours of the following night Jeff was very wary
and soon discovered that he was watched. He coolly slipped the
collar from a savage dog, and soon there was a stampede from a
neighboring grove. An hour after, when all had become quiet again,
he took the dog and, armed with an axe, started out, fully
resolved on breaking the treasure-box which he had been hoarding.
The late moon had risen, giving to Jeff a gnome-like aspect as he
dug at the root of the persimmon-tree. The mysterious box soon
gleamed with a pale light in his hand, like the leaden casket that
contained Portia's radiant face. Surely, when he struck the "open
sesame" blow, that beauty which captivates young and old alike
would dazzle his eyes. With heart now devoid of all compunction,
and exultant in anticipation, he struck the box, shaving off the
end he held furthest from him.
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