the door
of the Colonel's room, and fulfilling Ramo's duty, held it back while
the young men bore in lights; Katrine and Lydia followed, and the old
butler, looking shrunken and depressed, came last, to close the door and
draw the curtain.

It was mid-day, but it might have been midnight. Candles were lit again
on chimney-piece and dressing-table, and after the old solicitor had
seen that the door was fastened within, he took out his key, drew the
portal curtain at the end, and then unlocked and slowly pushed open the
iron door.

At a given order the butler solemnly carried a couple of candles down
into the vault, and stood there in the gloomy stone chamber, where, to
those who stood waiting his return, they seemed to cast a peculiarly
weird light.

Then, in utter silence, the lid was placed over the calm, sleeping
features, and the four men, taking each a handle, lifted and bore the
coffin down. There was some little difficulty in the sharp turn of the
steps, but in a few minutes all was done, and the coffin lay upon the
flagstones, while the two girls stood hand clasping hand.

Mr Girtle walked round to the back of the iron safe and stooped down,
when a peculiar clang was heard, as if a spring had been set free, and a
large panel at the end where Capel was standing, dropped down.

As the old lawyer came back, candle in hand, it was now seen that the
panel that had fallen laid bare a key-hole.

Upon the key being inserted in this, and turned, the panel flew back,
and glided over the key-hole as soon as the key was drawn out,
displaying a second key-hole, crossed by a row of lettered brass slides.

These the old lawyer manipulated till the letters formed in a row a
particular word, when the second key-hole was laid bare, the key
inserted and turned, and one end of the iron safe revolved on a pair of
huge pivots, shewing the interior--plain, rectangular and dark, with an
oblong mass of black metal in the centre.

"The steel chest," said the old lawyer, in a whisper, as he stepped
inside the great safe, in which he could nearly stand upright.

Candle in hand he went to the other end, put down the light for a moment
to set his hands free to get a second key--a curiously long, thin key,
with the end of which he pushed something at the back of the chest.
Then, going to one side, he repeated the act, went back round to the
other side, and again repeated it, after which he came to the front, and
as he held down th