Also the match probably had not been struck there,
nothing having been heard, although, of course, a mistake in this matter
was just possible. This match, then, it was fair to assume, had been lit
somewhere else and blown out immediately--I remarked at the time that it
was very little burned. Plainly it could not have been treated thus for
nothing, and the only possible object would have been to prevent it
igniting accidentally. Following on this, it became obvious that the match
was used, for whatever purpose, not _as_ a match, but merely as a
convenient splinter of wood.
"So far so good. But on examining the match very closely I observed, as
you can see for yourself, certain rather sharp indentations in the wood.
They are very small, you see, and scarcely visible, except upon narrow
inspection; but there they are, and their positions are regular. See,
there are two on each side, each opposite the corresponding mark of the
other pair. The match, in fact, would seem to have been gripped in some
fairly sharp instrument, holding it at two points above and two below--an
instrument, as it may at once strike you, not unlike the beak of a bird.
Pages:
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50