er; I cannot examine it in this
room, you have put such ridiculous notions into my head.'

'I'm afraid, Howel.'

'Nonsense, come directly, or I must get some one else.'

The pair went into the room and tried to move the bureau that had stood
for nearly fifty years in that corner untouched, save by the husband and
father, now lifeless near them. It was very heavy, and scarcely could
their united strength move it from its resting-place. They finally
succeeded, however, in dragging it towards the door, in doing which they
had to pass the foot of the bed. Unconsciously they pushed the bed with
the corner of the bureau and shook it. They nearly sank to the ground
with terror, expecting, for the moment, to see the miser arise, and
again take possession of his treasures. The mother rushed into the
passage, the son again called himself a coward, and, with a great
effort, pushed the bureau through the door and shut it after him.

'Now, mother, help to get it into my room. One would think we were
breaking into another man's house, instead of taking possession of our
own property.'

With the whole of their joint strength they succeeded in getting the
heavy piece of furniture into Howel's room, where, having first locked
the door, they proceeded to examine its contents. Disappointment awaited
them; they could find nothing but papers. Deeds, mortgages, bills,
letters, accounts, were arranged in every open and shut division. The
drawers contained nothing else, and the little locked cupboard in the
centre, the key of which was found upon the bunch, also enshrined
nothing but a few very particular documents.

'These papers could not have made the bureau so heavy,' said Howel,
biting his nails. 'There must be secret drawers.'

He pulled out the drawers and papers, and threw them on his bed. He
tried to move the bureau, and found it almost as heavy as ever.

'I am thinking, Howel, bach, that cupboard don't go through to the back
of the bureau,' suggested Mrs Jenkins.

Howel seized the poker and aimed a blow at the cupboard; the mahogany
did not give way, but they fancied they heard a chinking sound within.

'I am thinking,' said the mother, 'that it must be a double bureau. It
is looking so much broader than it do seem.'

Howel examined it, and began to think so, too; he took some carpenter's
tools down from the shelf, and set to work to try to pierce the back of
the bureau with a gimlet, in order to see if the gimlet would a