My first night had been spent in a huge old bed, carefully prepared for occupancy by Herr Schmick's frau; and the hours, which never were so dark, in trying to fathom the infinite space that reached above me to the vaulted ceiling. I knew there was a ceiling, for I had seen its beams during the daylight hours, but to save my soul I couldn't imagine anything so far away as it seemed to be after the candles had been taken away by the caretaker's wife, who had tucked me away in the bed with ample propriety and thoroughness combined. Twice during that interminable night I thought I heard a baby crying. So it is not unreasonable to suppose that I was _more_ than glad to see Poopendyke clambering up the path with his typewriter in one hand and his green baise bag in the other, followed close behind by Britton and the Gargantuan brothers bearing trunks, bags, boxes and my golf clubs. "Whew!" said Poopendyke, dropping wearily upon my doorstep--which, by the way, happens to be a rough hewn slab some ten feet square surmounted by a portcullis that has every intention of falling down unexpectedly one of these days and creating an earthquake. "Whew!" he repeated. My secretary is a youngish man with thin, stooping shoulders and a habit of perpetually rubbing his knees together when he walks. I shudder to think of what would happen to them if he undertook to run. I could not resist a glance at them now. "It is something of a climb, isn't it?" said I beamingly. "In the name of heaven, Mr. Smart, what could have induced you to--" He got no farther than this, and to my certain knowledge this unfinished reproof was the nearest he ever came to openly convicting me of asininity. "Make yourself at home, old fellow," said I in some haste. I felt sorry for him. "We are going to be very cosy here." "Cosy?" murmured he, blinking as he looked up, not at me but at the frowning walls that seemed to penetrate the sky. "I haven't explored those upper regions," I explained nervously, divining his thoughts. "We shall do it together, in a day or two." "It looks as though it might fall down if we jostled it carelessly," he remarked, having recovered his breath. "I am expecting masons at any minute," said I, contemplating the unstable stone crest of the northeast turret with some uneasiness. My face brightened suddenly. "That particular section of the castle is uninhabitable, I am told. It really doesn't matter if it collapses. Ah, Britton! Here you are, I see. Good morning." Britton, a very exacting servant, looked me over critically. "Your coat and trousers need pressing, sir," said he. "And where am I to get the hot water for shaving, sir?" "Frau Schmick will supply anything you need, Britton," said I, happy on being able to give the information. "It is not I as needs it, sir," said he, feeling of his smoothly shaven chin.