Evening star., 1896-11-07

L Looked Down n Long Passageway.
aid what small stock of effrontery 1 was
possessed of, and entering the staircase of
the tower and descending to the story be-
meath. l passed into an apartment directly
under the one 1 had occupied. This room
was light and airy, and from the view
which l got from the windows. l now
judged that 1 was upon the ground floor.
This chamber seemed to be devoted to i'm
plements and trophies of the chase. Several
pairs of antlers, some of them of enormous
size, were posted about the doorways; the
head of wild boar with glistenng tusks,
was mounted above cabinet in the fur
ther corner, and upon one OF the walls was
displayed an assortment OF muskets, bell
mouthed pistols and blunderbusses and
hunting pixies and blades, SO ancient and
curious that it would make collector
burst with envy to look at 1T.
Without lingering to inspect them, l
opened door opposite to the one ] had
entered and found myself in what appeared
to be a refectory of the castle The walls
We're covered with landscape paintings, as
1t seemed to me from cursory glance, by
the best German artists of the seventeenth
century; but that which most pleased my
fancy was a breakfast table In the center
OF the room, spread with linen of snowy
whiteness. set with profusion of silver,
and best of all, furnished with collation.,
smoking hot, and evidently prepared for
one person.
AS 1 entered here, l was certain that l
saw door close at the farther end of the
room. / stepped quickly to this door and
opened 1t, and looked down a long passage
way without seeing any one. Then l went
along this passage and entered several
pantries and offices, still without coming
upon living thing, and l began to be per-
picked, for all this time l had not heard a
sound. save the dashing of the torrent
against the rocks outside, and l was not
accus toned to being waited upon by ghosts.
l now concluded that the closing of the op-
posite door, as l entered the room, was
done by the pressure of air. AS I pushed
one door open the other one closed. That
was all there was of it. and it was a most
simple thing.
/ was not surprised when 1 found the
meal already prepared and waiting for me-
There was nothing to wonder at. 1t had,
without doubt, been gotten ready for the
man. When they heard nae moving about
in my chamber they supposed he was COM
ing down and had placed 1t upon the table.
1 had ms coat upon my back and it seemed
to me eminently logical that his breakfast
should adorn my stomach. With this philo-
sophical reflection, l. sat down and made
short work of the fruit and coffee and rolls
And though set before me in such a fan
tastic and ghostly way, very tangible and
satisfying and delicious found them.
After l had finished i lighted a cigar
and lounged about the ROOM for ten min
utes or SO. thinking surely that some serv-
ant would come whom might interrogate.
But none appeared; neither did hear the
least sound indicative of life in that part
of the building near me. l then went up
In my own apartment, as l had begun to
think It, and examined the belongings of
Its late occupant. On looking at the port
manteau found that 1t bore upon the out
side the initials: "A. Won D.. Munich At
about this moment also 1 discovered in one
of the pockets of the coat which 1 wore
letter, the envelope of which was post
marked Oldendorf and addressed to Herr
August Won Dunkelheim at Munich. l had
now discovered without doubt the name
of the man who had stolen my balloon, and
by reading the letter felt morally certain
that l could find out great many things
about the castle and its inmates always
providing that 1t had any. l, however, re-
strained myself from taking the letter from
its envelope reserv:ng the right to do SO
at some future time should occasion war
rant 1t.
Part III.
Coming out of my chamber, l noticed a
door on the opposite side of the landing.
1 opened 1t and found myself in a large
apartment with stone floors and stone
vaulted roof. Passing through this / came
into long corridor, similarly finished, in
which there were a number of easements
or loopholes. Thrusting my mead through
one of these apertures, l saw ahead of me
a great hexagonal tower, thirty or forty
feet in diameter; then passing through q
doorway at the end of the passage entered
d halfway ol HeAhBOIldl shape, ana from
that l knew that l was now in the six
sided tower which l had seen from the
window. This hallway was lighted by a
shaft from above. and in, its center was a
winding stairway leading to the lower
story. In it's six sides there were six door
ways leading into as many bed rooms. I
examined each of these chambers in turn
and found them all notably alike. The
same richly stained mulion windows were
in all Of them; the same delicately fres-
coed walls and ceilings, the same luxurious
rugs and Louis Quinze movables. In each
room there was quaint and narrow bed
with the whitest of counterpanes. the soft
est of mattresses and the downest of pill
lows l tried one of them, like little Silver
Hair in the house Of the three bears; then
seeing how l had disarranged it l felt ex-
ceedingly guilty, and with haste and as
part of the chateau.
Again descending the tower staircase to
the bottom and turning to the left, instead
of to the right, 1 passed through spa
cious vaulted passages and coming to a
great pair of oaken doors, l opened one of
them without much trouble, and found my
self upon carved stone porch, which led
down into a courtyard. In this open space
1 walked about and surveyed at my ease
the castle and its surroundings. 1t would
be difficult matter to describe the build
ing, or collection of buildings, as more
properly it might be called. ut was a con-
glomcration Of feudal Gothic and Moorish
archltce ture' towers ROUND and square.