"It's likely you can, sir, if I'm not dead by that time," said
the landlord, as he sank down again, groaning dismally, with his
chin between his hands.
The night was now profoundly dark; but Sir Norman knew the road
and ruin well, and, drawing his sword, walked resolutely on. The
distance between it and the ruin was trifling, and in less than
ten minutes it loomed up before him, a mass of deeper black in
the blackness. No white vision floated on the broken battlements
this night, as Sir Norman looked wistfully up at them; but
neither was there any ungainly dwarf, with two-edged sword,
guarding the ruined entrance; and Sir Norman passed unmolested
in. He sought the spiral staircase which La Masque had spoken
of, and, passing carefully from one ancient chamber to another,
stumbling over piles of rubbish and stones as he went, he reached
it at last. Descending gingerly its tortuous steepness, he found
himself in the mouldering vaults, and, as he trod them, his ear
was greeted by the sound of faint and far-off music. Proceeding
farther, he heard distinctly, mingled with it, a murmur of voices
and laughter, and, through the chinks in the broken flags, he
perceived a few faint rays of light.
Pages:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99