I bent eagerly beside him, and there saw that the great sliding bolt ran in three large hasps, and that one of the knobs of the bolt was secured by wire to the hasp, the two ends of the wire being secured together by a round seal of molten lead about the size of a shilling. By this the bolt was rendered immovable.
“Extraordinary!” I gasped, as we all stood wondering what might be therein concealed. “If we cut the wire then our presence here will be betrayed,” I said.
But Boyd, who was still examining the seal with great care, exclaimed at last, pointing to it—
“Do you see two letters on the seal, ‘R.’ and ‘M.’?”
“Yes,” I answered. “What do you think they denote?”
“They tell us how this seal was impressed,” the detective responded. “These initials stand for Rete Mediterranea, and the machine with which the seal has been impressed is one of those used at every Italian railway station to seal merchandise and passengers’ baggage. It has certainly been placed upon the wire by one who knew how to handle the instrument with dexterity.”
“There must be something in that room which her ladyship desires to keep secret,” I remarked, both amazed and excited at this latest discovery.
“Yes,” remarked Boyd. “At all hazards we must explore it.”
“But how,” I queried, “without tampering with the seal?”
His brow clouded for a few moments, then again he examined the seal and wire with the utmost care. He stood motionless, looking at it for fully a minute, then turning to the local officer, said—