Note: This is the second version of the story, published in the Le Gaulois, December 23, 1883. Maupassant completely re-wrote his initial tale entitled La main d'écorché, published in 1875 in L'Almanach lorrain de Pont-à-Mousson.

Synopsis: This story takes place in Corsica and is narrated by a magistrate. He visits Sir John Rowell, an Englishman settled in the area having fled his homeland. Sir John shows his collection of arms; among them is a mummified hand chained to the wall. He explains that it's the hand of his greatest enemy and is chained to stop it from getting away (the magistrate takes this for a joke). A year later Sir John is found dead, strangled, with the chain broken and the hand missing.