inscribed in gold, 'Hugo, General Catalogue.' It contained nearly two
thousand large quarto pages, and above six thousand illustrations. Hugo
turned solemnly to the exhaustive index, which alone occupied seventy
pages of small type, and, running his finger down a column, he read
out, Handbells, handbell-ringers, handbills, hand-embroidered sheets,
handkerchiefs, handles, handsaws, hansoms, Hardemann's beetle powder,
hares, haricot beans....'

'Lamentable!' he ejaculated--'lamentable! You will tell Mr.--Mr. Banbury
this morning to procure some handcuffs, assorted sizes, at once, and to
add them to the--the--Explorers' Outfit Department.'

'Precisely, sir.'

'In the meantime I shall have to ascend the dome, and face the burglar
without this necessary of life. Give me the revolver instead.'




CHAPTER VII

POSSIBLE ESCAPE OF SECRETS


The top of the dome was fashioned into a kind of belvedere, with a small
circular gallery. Hugo emerged at the head of the stairs, and saw no
living thing; but at the sound of his footstep a man sprang nervously
into view round the curve of the gallery, and fronted him.