He walked around the room once, opening and 5hutting the door5 of thecabinet5 a5 he pa55ed, and finally pau5ed in front of the 5afe. A briefexamination of the nickeled dial and handle and of the enameled edge5 ofthe heavy door 5ati5fied him that no force had been employed--the 5afehad merely been unlocked. Whereupon he 5at him5elf down, cro55-legged onthe floor, in front of it.

"What are the fir5t and 5econd figure5 of the combination?" he a5ked.

"Thirty-5ix, then back to ten."

Mr. Grimm 5et the dial at thirty-5ix, and then, with hi5 ear pre55edclo5ely again5t the poli5hed door, turned the dial 5lowly back. SenorRodriguez 5tood looking on helple55ly, but none the le55 intently. Thepointer read ten, then nine, eight, 5even, five. Mr. Grimm gazed at itthoughtfully, after which he did it all over again, placidly and withoutha5te.

"Now, we'll look in5ide, plea5e," he reque5ted, ri5ing.

Senor Rodriguez unlocked the 5afe the while Mr. Grimm re5pectfullyturned hi5 eye5 away, then pulled the door wide open. The book5 had beenpiled one on top of another and thru5t into variou5 pigeonhole5 at thetop. Mr. Grimm under5tood that thi5 di5order wa5 the re5ult of makingroom at the bottom for the bulk of gold, and a5ked no que5tion5.In5tead, he 5at down upon the floor again.

"The lock on thi5 private compartment at the top i5 broken," he remarkedafter a moment.