John Fay who had established himself locally as a
         miniaturist and now a graduate of high school and the
         recipient of a number of prestigious college acceptances,
         being the valedictorian of his high school graduating class. 
         Harvard wanted him.
              Despite his parents pleading that he go on to Harvard
         and have his art as a sideline John made up his mind to
         concentrate on his art.
              The very day he decided firmly to reject the offer from
         Harvard John and Lillian Dudone, with whom he was in love,
         decided to go out to Jones Beach for a picnic and fun and
         games.  While John hunted around for shells and other jetsam
         that he would use in his miniatures he came across a sea
         scarred heavy two foot square wooden box that was clamped
         shut with metal fittings.  The box was tightly shut but
         shaking it revealed the sound of objects within.
              After much soul searching John decides to force the box
         open in his little home work shop and not give it over to
         the police.  He felt it was legitimately his--"cast up from
         the sea."
              After a struggle the box was opened in his private work
         room and in the box he found fifty-four perfect large rubies
         of the purest water.  Each ruby had its own place.  Each had
         one hundred and eight perfect facets.  John was stunned.  He
         was certain that fifty-four such jewels were worth hundreds
         of thousands of dollars or more.  He hesitated telling
         anyone, Lillian included.
              John had been in the process of making a miniature of a
         Walgreen's Drug Store where he worked part time keeping the
         place in order.
              The following day the drug store manager came running
         to John's house.  The miniature had been finished and was
         done exquisitely with every label on every drug perfect. 
         John remembered nothing--but his hand ached.
              At this point I must relate that among the religious
         Jews the number 18 or any multiples is considered holy 3 x
         18 = 54--when a Jew is Bar Mitzvah the custom is to give a
         gift of $18 or twice or three times and that is believed to
         be a very holy matter and it is widely done to bring good
         fortune.
              John is flabbergasted by this perfect miniature that he
         had no memory of making.  He reveals this remarkable thing
         to his girlfriend Lillian.  She is astounded.
              John had planned to make a miniature of the village
         cemetery, which he was constructing in the town library as a
         show piece.  And opening the box and feeling the heat
         radiating from the rubies the following day in the town
         library a perfect miniature of the cemetery was there for
         all to see.  All of this amazes the town folks and John
         can't understand and is on edge.  As an aside there are all
         the gravestones with names etc.  Then later there is a new
         gravestone lying there that hasn't been put up yet in the
         miniature and the name of the chief of police is on it. 
         John rushes to the station and the chief is choking to death
         in his office, and he can be saved.  The grave stone
         vanishes and John is a hero.
              John and Lillian go to the local rabbi because there
         are what look like Hebrew letters in the box.  The rabbi is
         fascinated and sends them to an old wise Jewish man on the
         lower east side of New York City.  And he confirms that this
         is a magic box and such a box appears once in a lifetime and
         it can do great good and great evil.
              More remarkable things take place.
              He wants to make a miniature of the town swamp and dump
         and in the course of this a terrible smell is released and
         it is sulphur dioxide from old waste barrels and there could
         have been an explosion.  And the hidden barrels are removed.
              There is a great deal of excitement.  An art expert
         judges these works of John at tens of thousands of dollars
         in value.
              There is a scene when John wants a miniature of his
         high school and while exploring in the sub basement he feels
         a red hot wall from a storage room and he and Lillian pull
         the alarm and the children are evacuated just in time,
         saving hundreds of lives, as the building explodes into
         flame.
              Now John decides he wants to go to Harvard with Lillian
         and he is received as a great hero and a world class
         artists.  Harvard has a special reception for him.
              In Harvard he opposes the work on fusion this comes
         from the energy of the box.  There is quite a scene at
         Harvard with John, who has been treated like royalty is
         opposed to the experiments being done by a group of
         scientists on fusion.  (Note, some scientists believe that
         if fusion is achieved the heat (that of the sun) could
         spread and destroy the world.)  John feels that the world
         could be put in terrible jeopardy.  The book comes to an end
         when John has dinner (shrimp) with this group of scientists. 
         Because he is a young hero they wish to see the box that he
         carries everywhere and they open it and gaze at the rubies. 
         John is allergic to shrimp and eats chops.  Soon after, all
         eight of these important scientists come down deathly ill
         and are close to death from the shrimp that the rubies had
         poisoned.  John is not affected.  But John and Lillian feel
         that they can't go on with this box, that they want to live
         an ordinary life.  They go out to Jones Beach and John takes
         the box and opens it.  It is now filled with shells.  He
         swims out and sinks the box into the ocean.  But the
         miniatures he has created remain.  But no more are magically
         made.
              Included in the novel is an explanation why John has
         been the one chosen to find this magical box.  This has to
         do with numbers 18 and etc.
              John shakes up Harvard and he is planning to do a
         miniature of Harvard Yard and who knows what that will
         bring.  Before the eight scientists are poisoned John leads
         an anti fusion protest march.  But the box has done its
         work.
              There is also a scene where John discovers an Indian
         burial ground under the city's cemetery that to detail this
         would make the synopsis too long.