Old Specie, the Treasury Detective; or, The Harbor Lights of New York — page 133: what you’re looking at

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

OLD SPECIE. 125 choice of location could have been made for carry- ing on the business in hand. He was forced to admire the choice of the man who had set himself up as the enemy of the govern- ment. Another thing he learned in making this trip—in the back yard they had a dog. The animal was tied to a kennel. Old Specie could only guess at his size, but he be- lieved him to be both large and fierce, from the manner in which he tugged at his chain and the hoarse howls he gave forth. Evidently the animal scented a stranger in the vicinity and did not like it. When the detective had made the circuit of the premises he turned his attention toward effecting an entrance. This was what he SE to do. It was essential that he should see the men at work in order to make sure of. conviction. He crept up close to the house. Several windows were tried. The blinds were shut, and refused to open. He went farther. Looking around he found a coal hole. [twas nota very aristocratic way of entering a house, but beggars dare not be choosers, and proba- bly in the past'this man had effected his purpose in just as-~primative a manner as this. The end justified the means. It very nearly always does. When he tried the covering of the coal hole in the wall of the house he found that it was secured with a thumb screw, which could be turned aside by in- serting the blade of a knife, cS (Ee) Gomichoo