"It is no use," repeated his grizzly sons, leaning against the mouldy walls with weary tolerance. "Then how did the woman and her dog get into that part of the castle?" I demanded. "Tell me that!" They shook their heads, almost compassionately, as much as to say, "It is always best to humour a mad man." "And the baby," added Poopendyke, turning up his coat collar to protect his thin neck from the draft that smote us from the halls. "Smash those padlocks, Max," I commanded resolutely. Max looked stupidly at his father and the old man looked at his wife, and then all four of them looked at me, almost imploringly. "Why destroy a perfectly good padlock, mein herr?" began Max, twirling the sledge in his hand as if it were a bamboo cane. "Hi! Look out there!" gasped Britton, in some alarm. "Don't let that thing slip!" "Doesn't this castle belong to me?" I demanded, considerably impressed by the ease with which he swung the sledge. A very dangerous person, I began to perceive. "It does, mein herr," shouted all of them gladly, and touched their forelocks. "Everything is yours," added old Conrad, with a comprehensive sweep of his hand that might have put the whole universe in my name. "Smash that padlock, Max," I said after a second's hesitation. "I'll bet he can't do it," said Britton, ingeniously. Very reluctantly Max bared his great arms, spit upon his hands, and, with a pitiful look at his parents, prepared to deal the first blow upon the ancient padlock. The old couple turned their heads away, and put their fingers to their ears, cringing like things about to be whipped. "Now, one--two--three!" cried I, affecting an enthusiasm I didn't feel. The sledge fell upon the padlock and rebounded with almost equal force. The sound of the crash must have disturbed every bird and bat in the towers of the grim old pile. But the padlock merely shed a few scabs of rust and rattled back into its customary repose. "See!" cried Max, triumphantly. "It cannot be broken." Rudolph, his broad face beaming, held the lantern close to the padlock and showed me that it hadn't been dented by the blow. "It is a very fine lock," cried old Conrad, with a note of pride in his voice. I began to feel some pride in the thing myself. "It is, indeed," I said. "Try once more, Max." It seemed to me that he struck with a great deal more confidence than before, and again they all uttered ejaculations of pleasure. I caught Dame Schmick in the act of thanking God with her fingers. "See here," I exclaimed, facing them angrily, "what does all this mean? You are deceiving me, all of you. Now, let's have the truth--every word of it--or out you go to-morrow, the whole lot of you. I insist on knowing who that woman is, why she is here in my hou--my castle, and--everything, do you understand?" Apparently they didn't understand, for they looked at me with all the stupidity they could command.