This case stood upright in a niche between two book-cases at the back of the room, a darkish corner, where Brother Bones, as the boys would call him, was out of the way.
As Rose stood looking in that direction, and wondering if a rat had got shut in, the door of the case swung slowly open, and with a great start she saw a bony arm lifted, and a bony finger beckon to her.

For a minute she was frightened, and ran to the study door with a fluttering heart, but just as she touched the handle a queer, stifled sort of giggle made her stop short and turn red with anger.

She paused an instant to collect herself, and then went softly toward the bony beckoner.

A nearer look revealed black threads tied to the arm and fingers, the ends of threads disappearing through holes bored in the back of the case.

Peeping into the dark recess, she also caught sight of the tip of an elbow covered with a rough gray cloth which she knew very well.
Quick as a flash she understood the joke, her fear vanished, and with a wicked smile, she whipped out her scissors, cut the threads, and the bony arm dropped with a rattle.