on wood. He then rubbed the spot vigorously with his handkerchief, and
beneath the thick layer of dust and dirt which he thus removed he found
a piece of oak plank carefully inserted in the wall. On one side of
this plank was a small round hole; it was that of the lock which the key
fitted!

While Cerizet was turning the key, which worked with great difficulty,
Madame Cardinal, holding the light, was pale and breathless; but, oh!
cruel deception! the cupboard, at last unlocked and open, showed only an
empty space, into which the light in her hand fell uselessly.

Allowing this bacchante to give vent to her despair by saluting her
much-beloved uncle with the harshest epithets, Cerizet quietly inserted
his arm into the cupboard, and after feeling it over at the back, he
cried out, "An iron safe!" adding, impatiently, "Give me more light,
Madame Cardinal."

Then, as the light did not penetrate to the depths of the cupboard, he
snatched the candle from the bottle, where, in default of a candlestick,
the Cardinal had stuck it, and, taking it in his hand, moved it
carefully over all parts of the iron safe, the existence of which was
now a certainty.

"There is no visible lock," he said. "There must be a secret opening."

"Isn't he sly, that old villain!" exclaimed Madame Cardinal, while
Cerizet's bony fingers felt the side of the safe over minutely.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, after groping for ten minutes, "I have it!"

During this time Madame Cardinal's life seemed actually suspended.

Under the pressure which Cerizet now applied, the iron side rose quickly
into the thickness of the wall above, and in the midst of a mass of gold
thrown pell-mell into a large excavation that was now exposed to view,
lay a case of red morocco, which, from its size and appearance, gave
promise of magnificent booty.

"I take the diamonds for myself," said Cerizet, when he had opened the
case and seen the splendid jewels it contained; "you won't know how
to get rid of them. I'll leave you the gold for your share. As for the
house and the money in the Funds, they are not worth the trouble it
would be to get the old fellow to make a will."

"Not so fast, my little man!" replied the Cardinal, who thought this
decision rather summary; "we will first count the money--"

"Hush!" exclaimed Cerizet, apparently listening to a sound.

"What is it?" asked the Cardinal.

"Don't you hear some one moving below?"

"No, I hear nothing."

Cerizet, m