es which tapered gracefully until they joined the
walls of the crenelated towers and bastions. In the center of the mass
of buildings rose the square solid mass of the keep, with its crenelated
roof and small windows commanding every portion of the space enclosed
within the gray walls. He marked the dim lines of a road which ascended
from the valley upon the further mountain, now scarcely visible because
of the vegetation which grew luxuriantly on the hillsides, and he
studied this approach to the castle most attentively--the straight reach
of wall, built to span a branch of the gorge beyond, perhaps two hundred
feet deep and six hundred wide. This was the main entrance to the
castle, a narrow causeway, that terminated at the gate where he marked a
drawbridge now raised, which hung by chains to the heavy walls above.

The only means of access? Perhaps, and if the gate were guarded,
impassable by night as well as day. But Renwick was not sure that there
was no other means of ingress. To the left of the keep, and on a level
with the top of the long curtain of wall, the building fell away in
ruins, for portions of old bastions were missing, and there was a breach
in the northern wall, which had tumbled outward over the precipice into
the ravine below.

As daylight came Renwick watched the windows and ramparts intently.
There was no sign of life, but remembering that here there was no need
for early rising, he waited patiently, gazing steadily through the
leaves across the valley. At last his patience was rewarded, for from a
building in the courtyard near the central mass, he made out a thin pale
blue line which ascended straight into the sky. Smoke! Breakfast was
cooking. His heart gave a leap. There were no devils in Schloss
Szolnok--but Goritz! In a short while, still watching intently, he saw a
figure pass from the gate toward the main buildings, where it
disappeared. Renwick would have given the remainder of his
hundred-_kroner_ notes for a good pair of field glasses, by which it
might have been possible to distinguish the identity of any figure that
could be seen. But he realized that he had accomplished the object of
his visit, for the raised drawbridge indicated that whoever occupied the
castle, seclusion was important to him. Deciding that he knew enough to
warrant closer investigation, Renwick moved slowly along the mountain
side into the gorge, under the cover of rocks and undergrowth, slowly
descending toward