of this property than to the service of the
indigent, at this season of multiplied distress; but I considered that,
if my death were unknown, the house would not be opened or examined till
the pestilence had ceased, and the benefits of this application would
thus be partly or wholly precluded.

This season of disease, however, would give place to a season of
scarcity. The number and wants of the poor, during the ensuing winter,
would be deplorably aggravated. What multitudes might be rescued from
famine and nakedness by the judicious application of this sum!

But how should I secure this application? To enclose the bills in a
letter, directed to some eminent citizen or public officer, was the
obvious proceeding. Both of these conditions were fulfilled in the
person of the present chief-magistrate. To him, therefore, the packet
was to be sent.

Paper and the implements of writing were necessary for this end. Would
they be found, I asked, in the upper room? If that apartment, like the
rest which I had seen, and its furniture, had remained untouched, my
task would be practicable; but, if the means of writing were not to be
immediately procured, my purpose, momentous and dear as it was, must be
relinquished.

The truth, in this respect, was easily and ought immediately to be
ascertained. I rose from the bed which I had lately taken, and proceeded
to the _study_. The entries and staircases were illuminated by a pretty
strong twilight. The rooms, in consequence of every ray being excluded
by the closed shutters, were nearly as dark as if it had been midnight.
The rooms into which I had already passed were locked, but its key was
in each lock. I flattered myself that the entrance into the _study_
would be found in the same condition. The door was shut, but no key was
to be seen. My hopes were considerably damped by this appearance, but I
conceived it to be still possible to enter, since, by chance or by
design, the door might be unlocked.

My fingers touched the lock, when a sound was heard as if a bolt,
appending to the door on the inside, had been drawn. I was startled by
this incident. It betokened that the room was already occupied by some
other, who desired to exclude a visitor. The unbarred shutter below was
remembered, and associated itself with this circumstance. That this
house should be entered by the same avenue, at the same time, and this
room should be sought, by two persons, was a mysterious concurrence.