"It is, as thou seest, a building erected for the purposes of defence,"
replied Mark; "one to which, in the event of an inroad of the savages, the
family may fly for refuge."
"Ah! these citadels are not unknown to me. I have met with others during
my journey, but none so formidable or so military as this. It hath a
soldier for its governor, and should hold out for a reasonable siege.
Being a place of pretension, we will look closer into its mystery."
He then signified an intention to close the search by an examination of
this edifice. Content unhesitatingly threw open its door, and invited
him to enter.
"On the word of one who, though now engaged in a more peaceful calling,
has been a campaigner in his time, 'twould be no child's-play to carry
this tower without artillery Had thy spies given notice of our approach,
Captain Heathcote, the entrance might have been more difficult than we now
find it. We have a ladder, here! Where the means of mounting are found,
there must be something to tempt one to ascend. I will taste your forest
air from an upper room.
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