“You have been inside the bank vault?”
“Yes, sir, often; you have frequently sent me to the drawer which contains your private documents.”
“Yes—yes, I know, and —— But before I go on I want you to give me your word of honor that no one shall ever learn from you the secret I am about to commit to you,” said the banker.
“Certainly, sir, I will promise that I will never betray any confidence that you repose in me,” Gerald responded.
“That is enough,” he said. “Now, behind that drawer, which contains those private papers, there is a small, secret vault, which I had built there to store certain valuables during my absence from town. No one save the man who made it, and I, know that it is there; no one would suspect it, for, on removing the drawer, there seems to be nothing but the brick wall behind it. On the contrary, there is an iron plate, or panel, painted to resemble bricks. At the bottom of this panel there is a small slot. You will insert in this a tiny key which I shall give you; turn it half-around, and the panel will spring outward. You can then swing it upward, when you will discover behind it two boxes, take them out, being careful to relock the panel, and bring them to me.”
“Yes, sir; I shall be very glad to do as you wish,” Gerald remarked. “But how will I be able to get into the vault and remove the boxes without the knowledge of others?”
“I have keys that will admit you to it, and you must go to the bank when no one else is there,” said the banker, with a slight frown, as if he did not exactly relish this part of the commission. “To-morrow will be Sunday, and you had best go as soon after you have had your breakfast as you can; then come directly to me. Be careful not to excite the suspicion of any one whom you may meet, for one of the boxes contains valuable jewels that belonged to Mrs. Brewster. I want them for Allison; the other holds nothing of special value to any one except myself.”
Mr. Brewster had become very white during this last statement, and Gerald feared he was talking too much for his strength.
“Here are my keys,” he continued, after a moment, and, taking a bunch from a drawer in the table beside him, “this one unlocks the outer door, this the inner; the brass one opens the gate of the iron fence; the heavy one will admit you to the vault; this unlocks my private drawer, and the little, flat one the panel that conceals the secret vault. Quite a lesson to learn, isn’t it?” he added, with a slight smile; “but I think you will have no difficulty in remembering how to use them.”