The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 344: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

318 THE COURT OF LONDON search for the secret spring; he could not find it. Then he attempted to break the door open with his crowbar, but its strength resisted all his endeavours. In short, wearied with ineffectual exertions, and thrown into a terrific fever-heat by his maddened endeavours to break loose, he had sat down to recruit his strength, when it struck him that the best course to adopt was to remain quiet and trust to the place of his concealment remaining undiscovered when the house should be searched. This he did, and the reader has already seen the result. CoOmicooo S (C@ im