came to his turn. To use his own figurative
way of speaking, he only made one bite at it, and then glanced at the
black bottle as if it were a little idol which ought to be worshipped,
before following his leader out into the hall, the old professor closing
the door after them and immediately after, drawing himself up straight,
taking off his goggle glasses and thrusting them into his pocket,
looking now a keen-eyed, elderly man, with the sharp, yellow-tinged face
of a New Englander.

Going back with a firm step into the dining-room, and with the weak old
stooping manner entirely wanting, he took a fresh glass from the closet,
filled it and tossed off the contents.

"Hah! yes, that is a good glass of brandy," he muttered; and taking a
cigar from the same receptacle he lit up and began to smoke, as he
seated himself at a table, drew forward a blotter, and spent some time
reading and writing letters, before throwing himself upon an old
well-worn couch and going off into sleep which lasted a couple of hours.

He woke and in the most business-like way went downstairs into the
basement, where from a cupboard he took a large screw-driver, walked to
the chests, cut the ropes, and carefully examined the seals attached to
the lesser cords before disturbing them. Then, apparently satisfied, he
cut these in turn, and began to take out the screws from the lid of the
first chest.

He had reached the last screw when he suddenly stopped short and stood
listening. The next minute he had walked to the end of the passage, to
stand listening again, till apparently satisfied, he went into a dark
corner and pulled at a knob as if ringing a bell. Then he went sharply
back to the chests, laid down the screw-driver, and hurried up the
stairs to the dining-room with all the activity of a man of forty.

Here he went to a book-case and took down an ancient-looking massive
tome, laid it upon the table, lifted the cover, and showed that it was
only an imitation book, the cover proving to be the lid of a box in
which lay a mahogany case, from which he drew out a small revolver, and
after examining its six chambers to see if they were loaded, he
carefully concealed it in the breast of the vest he wore beneath the old
dressing-gown.

Then the spectacles were resumed, and the slow, stooping, aged aspect
came over him, as he went into the hall, threw off his dressing-gown and
took an old-fashioned coat from a peg, donned it, and then completed