The piece of candle was still upon the shelf, fastened
to it with its own grease, and Lord Rosmore lit it. Then he drew the
papers from the case, and turned to one portion of the writing. He had
already studied it carefully, but he read it once again, and, bending
down to the hearth, felt eagerly along the coping which surrounded it.
His fingers touched a slight projection, which he pressed inwards and
downwards. It moved a little, but some few moments elapsed before he
succeeded in making the exact motion necessary, when the front portion
of the hearth was depressed and slid back silently.--Taking the piece of
candle in his hand, Rosmore stepped into the opening and went cautiously
down the narrow twisting stairs, without attempting to shut the secret
entrance. The instructions contained in the leather case were exact,
even to a rough calculation of the value of the treasure hidden below
the Abbey ruins. Rosmore came at last to a wide chamber, bare wall on
one side, but on the other three sides were a series of arches, some of
them framing recesses merely which were not uniform in depth, some of
them forming entrances into other rooms.
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