'

He advanced along the passageway, and opening a large door covered with
green baize, entered a commodious apartment, containing a long table
covered with papers, a desk, chairs, and other furniture, suitable to a
business office. In one corner stood an immense safe, six feet in height
and four in depth; this safe, made of massive plates of iron and
protected by a door of prodigious strength, contained the books,
valuable papers, and cash belonging to the ---- Insurance Company.
Archer advanced to the safe, and took from his pocket a piece of paper,
on which some words were written; this paper he examined with much
attention.

'Here,' said he, 'I have the written directions, furnished me by the
locksmith who made the lock attached to the safe, by which I can open
it. Curse the fellow, a cool hundred dollars was a round sum of money to
give him for this little bit of paper, but without it I never could see
the interior of his iron closet, tho' I have an exact model of the key
belonging to it, made from an impression in wax, which I bribed the
clerk to get for me.'

Pursuing the directions contained in the paper, he touched a small
spring concealed in the masonry adjoining the safe, and instantly a
slide drew back in a panel of the door, revealing a key-hole. In this he
inserted a key, and turned it, but found that he could not unlock it; he
therefore had recourse to his paper a second time, which communicated
the secret of the only method by which to open the door. Following those
directions implicitly, he soon had the satisfaction of turning back the
massive bolts which secured the door; a spring now only held it fast,
but this was easily turned by means of a small brass knob, and the heavy
door swung back upon its gigantic hinges, to the intense delight of the
burglar, who anticipated securing a rich booty.

Nor was he likely to be disappointed; for upon examination he found that
the safe contained money to a large amount. A small tin cash box was
full of bank-notes of various denominations; and in a drawer were
several thousands of dollars in gold.

'My fortune is made, by G----d!' exclaimed the burglar, as he stood
within the safe, and began hastily to transfer the treasures to his
pockets. The light of his candle, which he held in his hand, shed a
faint glow upon the walls and ceiling of the apartment.

'The devil!' muttered Archer--'my success thus far must not destroy my
prudence. If that light were to be