‘When the appointed night came, I took my tools, which I always had ready to hand, and set out for the villa. I arrived at the gate at about ten. Through the wire fence I could see the first floor of the building, where the bedrooms of the old man and his daughter were situated. It was dark. The street was far from the centre of town, quiet and deserted — a rich residential street. On a rainy night at the end of February, there wasn’t a soul to be seen. I knew the house well from the outside; I had spent the past two days examining it from every angle. I leaped over the fence, which was not very high, and jumped into the garden. At that moment the door opened and somebody came out. I held my breath and waited. I recognised the manservant. (They had only one manservant and a cook.) He opened the garden gate and set off down the street. “This is my chance,” I said to myself, “I mustn’t lose a minute.” When his footsteps receded, I approached and peeped through the kitchen window. The cook, an elderly woman, was busy reading the newspaper. I went round to the front door, to see if the manservant had by any chance left it unlocked, and to my amazement I found it open. Quick as a flash I took off my shoes, hid them in the garden, tiptoed into the hall, and with one bound reached the first floor. I had no trouble opening the door — my tools were the best that money could buy — and in a matter of seconds I was inside the room. From then on it was plain sailing. In fifteen minutes I had gone over every nook and cranny and been well rewarded for my efforts. Although I didn’t find more than a few hundred marks in cash, I did find what I was really looking for — the family jewel case. I let myself out as soundlessly as I had let myself in, and after an hour’s walk (I avoided taking a carriage) I was safe at home. When I opened the box, my eyes darkened: it contained a fortune. Pearls, rings, earrings, bracelets, some of them precious antiques, whose glitter filled the room. I was seized with terror at the sight of all this wealth. I found out later that they were worth about half a million marks. I put everything back except for three rings, which I placed in my pocket. I hid the box among my clothes in my suitcase, locked it, and took it that same night to Aunt Bertha’s for safekeeping until the next day. For I had made up my mind to travel to Hamburg the following day, and from there to sail on the first ship to New York. I spent about two hours at Aunt Bertha’s, and then went home to sleep.