It was a wearisome ascent. At first the stones were small, often slipping and turning beneath the feet; but gradually they grew larger, until they became huge blocks, between which it was often very difficult to find a way. It was no longer a stony waste which they were trying to traverse, but a chaos of immense masses of rock piled one upon another. There was not the slightest trace of a path; and Delmar, who went first, had to turn to the right and left continually to advance a single step upwards. "Leo," he said at last, stopping to wipe his heated brow, "I see now that you were right, and that I am an ass,--a discovery, by the way, which I have made frequently during my life. This climbing is the very devil!" "If it only led somewhere!" Leo replied; "but I am afraid we are among the rocks against which our host warned us. I cannot see the castle any longer." In fact the castle had vanished. In vain did Paul look in all directions for its massive proportions. He had forgotten to keep it in view lately, absorbed as he had been in the difficulties that beset their progress, and now he noticed for the first time that it was nowhere to be seen. In the direction in which Delmar had thought to find it there arose perpendicularly from among the chaos of rough blocks of stone, a smooth wall of rock. It might be that the castle was upon its summit, but they were too near to it to decide this question. "We're in a deuce of a scrape!" Delmar exclaimed in irritation. "We are positively lost. I can see no way forwards or backwards. The enchanted castle has vanished, and I have no idea where it is. I believe the evil fairy Hilda has conjured it away." A clear, merry laugh answered this outburst of irritation. Leo and Paul looked startled in the direction whence it proceeded; but in vain: no human being was to be seen. So melodious a peal of laughter could have come only from the throat of a young girl, and she must be hidden by some one of the giant masses of rock that barred both way and vision on every side. Paul thought he knew exactly whence the sound came. His curiosity was strongly excited, and without reflecting he left the spot where he was standing with Leo and began forthwith to climb a huge rock upon his right, from the top of which he hoped to have a more extended view. It was a difficult undertaking, and not without peril; but Paul's frame was lithe and his muscles steeled by constant gymnastic exercise. He succeeded in gaining the summit, and the result amply rewarded his exertions; for not only could he see far and wide over the chaos of rocks, but he found himself face to face with the girl whose gleeful laughter had just resounded in his ears,--she was sitting on this very rock, a little beneath the summit, on the other side. As she looked up at the young man there was evident in her eyes an admiration of his strength and agility which did not escape him and which flattered his vanity.