They stood before the formidable-looking receptacle, watches in hand, and then with a simultaneous exclamation of “Now!” from each, Morrice and his confidential secretary inserted their two separate keys. The heavy door swung back, the financier advanced his hand to the spot where the articles had been placed, and drew back with a cry of dismay. _The packet of French notes, the canvas bag containing the loose diamonds, had been removed from their hiding place, also a parcel of private papers containing important secrets._ CHAPTER III RICHARD IS DISMISSED For an instant the two men stared at each other in blank amazement as they stood in front of the big safe, the door of which had been unlocked with such startling results. The elder man recovered himself first. His was a strong, resolute character, and it was always said of him by those who knew him intimately, that no man could grasp the bearings of an unexpected situation more readily. Croxton seemed dazed and stupefied beyond the power of speech. “But they were there, all of them, when we shifted them the other morning, the packet of notes, the bag of diamonds, the parcel of papers. You saw them, we both saw them.” The young man’s voice was trembling as he answered: “We both saw them, as you say, sir. They were there, right enough.” The big financier took a great interest in the mechanism of safes; it had always been one of his hobbies. He had tried half a dozen different kinds during his business career, and in the present one he was confident he had found the latest thing in ingenuity and safety. In truth it was a marvel, and there was nothing else like it in all the world. He had availed himself to the full of the resources of the locksmith’s art, and had contributed a few practical suggestions as to the actual mechanism himself. It had a marvellous time lock, the secret of which was only known to himself and his secretary. The time when the safe could be opened was automatically controlled by the day of the month. For example, if it was secretly set to open at nine o’clock on June the twelfth, it would not open before nine plus six (the sixth month of the year), plus twelve (the day of the month). Therefore, it would be twenty-seven minutes past nine before the two keys could be inserted, and then only for one minute. If that time passed, the safe could not be opened till next day, and then not one minute but two minutes later. There was a long pause in which both men were thinking furiously. Richard Croxton, recovering slowly from the shock, was beginning to realize the awkwardness of the situation with regard to himself, and to anticipate the thoughts that were forming themselves in the mind of the man who had, up to the present, treated him more like a father than an employer.