Old Specie, the Treasury Detective; or, The Harbor Lights of New York — page 112: what you’re looking at

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

104 _ OLD SPECIE. It was not very inviting. Without any waste of time, Old Specie arene along - the timber, which he saw had been frequently used for a pathway. He met with no accident. Reaching the place where solid ground appeared, he kept his eyes on the alert, and soon found which way the others had gone. Indeed, there was little choice. He came to a heavy wooden door. It could not be opened by ordinary means, so he knew he would have to pick the lock. His greatest fear was that some one would come up while he was thus engaged, and serious conse- quences follow. The time consumed was not over 2 couple of min- - utes, but it seemed longer to him. | He passed this barrier to any dock rats that might happen under the pier. Twenty feet beyond he found another door. This was not fastened. 2 Beyond it lay the cellar of a house, cemented to keep out the water of the river, for this was all made-ground here. In the cellar beyond a number of men Shad gath- ered, and he could hear their voices. Light came under the door, too. He believed he had traced the foxes to their hole, and the thought gave him much joy. It was a dangerous job. ‘ Men would probably be coming and going, for he had seen three different rowboats fastened under the old dilapidated pier. ‘To be discovered meant death, unless he could fight his way clear. cComicbooks co