e is--is gone, there is need to see how his affairs stand. The lawyer
tells me I had better open the safe.

"When we found that none of us knew the combination, and when it was not
found written down anywhere among father's other papers, and when his
clerk, Mr. Blossom, did not have it, we sent to the company."

"I understand," said the safe expert. "If you will show me--"

Viola touched a button on the wall, a button so cleverly concealed that
the ordinary observer would never have noticed it, and a panel slid
back, revealing the door of the safe.

"It was one of father's ideas that his strong box was better hidden this
way," said Viola, with a little wan smile. "Is there room enough for you
to work? The safe is built into the wall."

"Oh, there is plenty of room, thank you. I can very easily get at it.
It isn't the first safe I've had to work on this way. Many families have
safes hidden like this. It's a good idea."

He looked at the safe, noted the manufacturer's number, and consulted a
little book he carried with him. Then he began to turn the knob gently,
listening the while, with acute and trained ears, to the noise the
tumblers made as they clicked their way, unseen, amid the mazes of the
combination.

"Will it be difficult, do you think?" asked Viola. "Will it take you
long?"

"That is hard to say."

"Do you mind if I watch you?" she asked eagerly. She wanted something to
take her mind off the many things that were tearing at it as the not far
distant sea tore at the shore which stood as a barrier in its way.

"Not at all," answered the expert. Then he went on with his work.

In a way it was as delicate an operation as that which sometimes
confronts a physician who is in doubt as to what ails his patient. There
was a twisting and a turning of the knob, a listening with an ear to the
heavy steel door, as a doctor listens to the breathing of a pneumonia
victim. Then with his little finger held against the numbered dial, the
expert again twirled the nickel knob, seeking to tell, by the vibration,
when the little catches fell into the slots provided for them.

It was rather a lengthy operation, and he tried several of the more
common and usual combinations without result. As he straightened up to
rest Viola asked:

"Do you think you can manage it? Can you open it?"

"Oh, yes. It will take a little time, but I can do it. Your father
evidently used a more complicated combination than is usually set on