"It is well--let two men remain here. The others follow me." He led the way up a steep stair of stone steps, past houses built into the rock, past the little church, one wall of which was the rock itself, and the roadway lay almost level with the eave. There was a clock in the tower, it throbbed like the pulse of a living being--the pulse of the whole town, but it beat evenly, as if the town was without fear. The road lay beneath some houses; for, in order to penetrate from one portion of the town to another, to reach from one ledge of rock with the buildings occupying it where every foot of ground was precious, the path was conducted beneath chambers, in which, overhead, the citizens were peacefully sleeping, unsuspicious of what was proceeding below. In another moment the platform had been reached below the sheer cliff that rose without so much as a shelf on which a shrub could root itself, even of a cranny in which a pink or harebell might cling. All was now so dark that Guillem could not see his guide or his men. Not a sound had been heard in the town--and here there was nothing audible save a cat that was mewing. It had been shut out of a house and feared that a storm was coming on. The time was winter, the little creature was cold, and it craved for the warmth and the dryness of the kitchen hearth. The foolish cat came up to Le Gros Guillem and rubbed herself against his legs and pleaded for attention. Irritated at her persistence and cries, the Captain dealt her a kick which sent her flying and squealing. Then he regretted that he had done this, lest her shrill cry should reach the mistress and induce her to open the door and show a light. But no token followed and showed that the cat had been heard. Again the creature came near, mewing. The darkness was so dense that nothing could be seen, not even the rock in front, only the buildings round loomed black against the sky that was but a shade lighter than the rock. Then hail rushed down, hissing, leaping, and with the hail a flash of lightning revealing the blank wall of rock in front and the floor over which the hailstones ran and spun. "Where is the stair?" asked Le Gros Guillem of the castellan, who kept at his side. "Stair--what stair?" "The way by which we are to mount into the castle?" The old man chuckled. "Wait a while," said he in a whisper. "When next the lightning flashes look ahead of you--a little to the right, and you will see a cobweb path up the face of the rock." "Lead us to the path--cobweb or not we will mount it. We are accustomed to that, and this is tedious--tarrying here. Curse that cat! Here she is again!" "Ah, Messire--you do not comprehend. Have you never been in La Roque?" "I? Never! Do you suppose they would suffer me within the walls?" "Then, Messire, you cannot understand how it is that of the garrison none are awake, how it comes that there is no need for watchfulness. Wait a while, the lightning--there--did you see?"