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Lord Colambre was then compelled to follow, as she led the way, into the hall, where the count took down golden ornaments, and brass-headed spears, and jointed horns of curious workmanship, that had been found on his estate; and he told of spermaceti wrapped in carpets, and he showed small urns, enclosing ashes; and from among these urns he selected one, which he put into the hands of Lord Colambre, telling him, that it had been lately found in an old abbey-ground in his neighbourhood, which had been the burial-place of some of the Nugent family.
When it was removed, the only traces of its former presence were two brass-headed spikes in the walls, from which the side curtains depended. These spikes imparted anguish to the mind of Mr. Slapman whenever he gazed upon them. Mrs. S. had heard him say, that "some people would look well hanging up there."
And at last, the really practical and sensible ones declared, that nothing was of any real consequence, that afternoon, except to get plenty of brass-headed nails; and that the books, and the cakes, and the microscopes were of no use at all in themselves, but only, if they could be exchanged for nail-heads.
As was said, it was a cheerful, pleasant home, impressing you when you entered it with the feeling of spotless and all-pervading cleanliness a cleanliness that greeted you in the shining brass door-knocker; that entertained you in the sitting room with its stiff, leather-covered furniture, the brass-headed tacks whereof sparkled like so many stars a cleanliness that bade you farewell in the spotless stretch of sand-sprinkled hallway, the wooden floor of which was worn into knobs around the nail heads by the countless scourings and scrubbings to which it had been subjected and which left behind them an all-pervading faint, fragrant odor of soap and warm water.
Once was when the new drugget went down, at last, in the dining-room. It was tan-color, bound with crimson, covering three square yards; and mother nailed it down with brass-headed tacks, right after breakfast, one cool morning.
"The robbery," said the reporter, "could only have been committed before the attack upon Mademoiselle Stangerson in her room. When the murderer entered the pavilion he already possessed the brass-headed key." "That is impossible," said Monsieur Stangerson in a low voice. "It is quite possible, Monsieur, as this proves." It contained, amongst other things, a small key with a brass head.
I turned in my chair, holding it up in my hand. "Is this sufficiently dignified and imperious?" I began to declaim it. "Sir, it has been brought to my notice that the pipes ". I broke off short. "Hullo!" said I, my eyes on the wall, "what has become of the key of Jaffery's flat?" There was the brass-headed nail on which I had hung it, impertinently and nakedly bright.
He stood with an air of condescending arrogance, his thumbs bearing down heavily on his trousers pockets, his broad fingers beating a self-satisfied tattoo upon his thighs. Claire shrank nearer the table. "You mean, Mr. Flint, that you dismissed Miss Whitehead merely to give me her position?" Flint smiled. "Well, now you're coming down to brass-headed tacks.
This may be filled with wood-carpetry, which, like all devices which suggest continuation of fine material through unseen parts, gives an air of art and elegance at comparatively little expense. Otherwise the floor, if hardwood, should be finished; if of other wood, stained and varnished. The carpet square is kept in position with brass-headed pins sold for the purpose.
These were laid upon the bench and screwed together, so as to make one rod just over twenty-four feet long. Then at one end a hole was made, into which a large brass-headed nail was thrust, while through the other end a sharp-pointed bradawl was bored, so as to leave its sharp point sticking out a quarter of an inch on the other side. "So far so good," said Uncle Richard.