At last he seized an iron crowbar, with which he forced the door off its hinges.

Before him was a curious sort of compartment like a vault, the inside of which was lined with sheet iron.

There lay before him several large, long boxes made of strong wood.

He wondered what they contained.

He cleared away every obstacle to the nearest box, and saw a lock and padlock and a handle at each end, all carved as things were carved in that age, when art rendered the commonest metals precious.