Suddenly Harley turned to our host. "Where is the famous tower?" he
enquired. "It is not visible from the front of the house, nor from the
drive."
"No, no," replied the Colonel, "it is right out at the end of the east
wing, which is disused. I keep it locked up. There are four rooms in
the tower and a staircase, of course, but it is inconvenient. I cannot
imagine why it was built."
"The architect may have had some definite object in view," said Harley,
"or it may have been merely a freak of his client. Is there anything
characteristic about the topmost room, for instance?"
Colonel Menendez shrugged his massive shoulders. "Nothing," he
replied. "It is the same as the others below, except that there is a
stair leading to a gallery on the roof. Presently I will take you up,
if you wish."
"I should be interested," murmured Harley, and tactfully changed the
subject, which evidently was not altogether pleasing to our host. I
concluded that he had found the east wing of the house something of a
white elephant, and was accordingly sensitive upon the point.
Presently, then, he left us and I returned to my own room, but before
long I rejoined Harley.
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