Making use of the secret passage, I soon found myself on the scene of my recent terrors and sufferings, all of which seemed now so slight in comparison with, the mental torture of my present condition.
I went straight to the spot where I had left the coffined treasure--I possessed myself of all the rolls of paper money, and disposed them in various small packages about my person and in the lining of my clothes till, as I stood, I was worth many thousand of francs.

Then with the help of the tools I had brought, I mended the huge chest in the split places where I had forced it open, and nailed it up fast so that it looked as if it had never been touched.

I lost no time over my task, for I was in haste.

It was my intention to leave Naples for a fortnight or more, and I purposed taking my departure that very day.

Before leaving the vault I glanced at the coffin I myself had occupied.