heart was palpitating at such a rate that he was compelled to pause for a few moments with his fingers on the handle of the door till its beatings had slackened. Then he pushed open the door and went in. Again he waited, scarcely breathing, while one might have counted six slowly. Then, drawing forth his lantern, he pushed the slide halfway back and shot a gleam of light around. All the familiar features of the room were there just as he had seen them last. Thus far everything had gone so well with him and so exactly as his uncle had predicted it would, that he began to gather courage, and even caught himself smiling at his own exaggerated fears. Well, it was his first attempt in that particular line of business, so that every excuse ought to be made for him, and in all sincerity he hoped it would be his last. By this he had placed the lantern on his grandfather’s desk and had begun to manipulate the picklocks. As the Captain had inferred, the lock was only an ordinary one, and after labouring for about three minutes Luigi succeeded in picking it. His heart gave a great bound as he heard the click of the bolt. Two seconds later the key of the strong room was in his hand. Taking the lantern in his other hand, he crossed the floor, lifted the metal flap that covered the keyhole, inserted the key, turned it and pulled open the massive iron door. Drawing a deeper breath than common he stepped across the threshold, lifted the lantern above his head and stared around. The strong room at the Chase had at one time formed part of the room now used by Sir Gilbert as his study. It was his father who had caused the dividing wall to be built, and had turned the smaller chamber into a depository for family papers, leases, deeds, securities and what not. One side of the room was occupied by a row of shelves having a series of cupboards and drawers below them, while two large japanned boxes took up a considerable portion of the floor space; but, even then, there was room enough and to spare to stow away all the archives of the Clare family for generations to come. The room was lighted by a small, barred, oval window high up in the wall. The drawer in which Luigi had put away the American bonds, on the occasion when his grandfather had claimed his assistance owing to the temporary absence of Everard Lisle, was labelled B, and after his preliminary glance round, he at once made straight for it. Placing his lantern on the nearest shelf, he pulled open the drawer, which was without lock or fastening of any kind.