This thrilling and mysterious story was first published in the Civil and Military Gazette on March 4th 1887 and collected in Plain Tales from the Hills in 1888, and in subsequent editions of this collection. The Bisara of Pooree is a tiny eyeless fish, carved from a nut, inside a little jewelled silver box. If stolen, it is a powerful love charm. If it is not stolen, it turns against its owner within three years and brings ruin and death. Captain 'Grubby' Pack, a 'nasty little man', is infatuated with the attractive Miss Hollis, who spurns him. He overhears a conversation in the Club about the Bisara and steals it, sparking a chain of events that will keep a listener on the edge of their seat and defy logical belief.