CHAPTER IX.THE DIAMOND CLASP.
They then left the room. Nick dispatched Patsy secretly to the Stevens house.
Shortly before noon, Colonel Richmond, Horace, and Nick took a train for the city.
At two o’clock they entered the vault of the safe deposit company.
It is a long room below the level of the street.
The walls are lined with metal drawers, fastened by locks of the most approved pattern.
The drawers near the floor are the largest. They are, perhaps, a foot square, as seen when closed. Near the top of the room they are much smaller.
A movable metal step-ladder stands ready for the convenience of those who wish to reach the boxes on the upper tiers.
The space in the middle of the room is railed off, and there sits a guard day and night.
“This is ours,” said the colonel, advancin
