The object of this examination still remained a secret between those who
made it, and the Puritan, who had probably found its motive in the written
warranty which had been submitted to his inspection. That it proceeded
from fitting authority, none might doubt; and that it was in some manner
connected with the events that were known to have wrought so sudden and
so great a change in the government of the mother country, all believed
probable. Notwithstanding the seeming mystery of the procedure, the search
was not the less rigid. Few habitations of any size or pretension were
erected in those times, which did not contain certain secret places, where
valuables and even persons might be concealed, at need. The strangers
displayed great familiarity with the nature and ordinary positions of
these private recesses. Not a chest, a closet, or even a drawer of size,
escaped their vigilance; nor was there a plank that sounded hollow, but
the master of the valley was called on to explain the cause. In one or two
instances, boards were wrested violently from their fastenings, and the
cavities beneath were explored, with a wariness that increased as the
investigation proceeded without success.
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