At last, when the hour of eight began to draw nigh, they all went back to a little inn near the station, where the coachman had said that he would call for them. When the coach came Mr. George got in, and the two boys mounted on the top, and took their places on a high seat behind that of the driver. They had a very pleasant ride. The country was beautiful, and the horses trotted so fast over the smooth, hard road, that a continued succession of most enchanting pictures of rural scenery was presented to the eyes of the boys, as they rode along. The distance was not far from ten miles, but both the boys wished that it had been twenty. At length they came in sight of a large village bordered by groves of trees, lying in the midst of a gentle depression of the ground, and in a few minutes more they began to get glimpses of the water. The village was Kinross, and the water was Loch Leven. Presently, in going over a gentle elevation of land, a large portion of the surface of the water came into view. Far out towards the centre of it was a small, low island, covered with trees. In the midst of the trees the boys could see the top of the ruin of a large, square tower. They asked the coachman if that was Loch Leven Castle, and he said it was. "Uncle George," said Rollo, leaning over and calling out to his uncle inside, "there's the castle." "Yes," said Mr. George, "I see it." "It seems to me," said Rollo to Waldron, "that that is a very small island to build a castle upon." "Yes," said the coachman; "but it was a great deal smaller in the days when the castle was inhabited. It was only just large enough then for the castle itself, and for the castle garden. It is a great deal larger now. The way it came to be larger was this. Some years ago the proprietor cut down the outlet of the loch four feet deeper than it was before; and that drew off four feet of water from the whole loch, and of course all the places where the water was less than four feet deep were laid bare. This enlarged the castle island a great deal, for before the water was very shallow all around it. When the land became dry they planted trees there, and now the ruins are in the midst of quite a grove." By this time the coach began to enter the village, and very soon it stopped at the door of a very neat and tidy-looking inn. Mr. George engaged lodgings for the night, and called for supper. The supper was served in a pleasant little coffee room, which was fitted up in a very snug and comfortable manner, like a back parlor in a gentleman's house.