re had to ask a guest
to leave my house, and I resent very much the necessity."

"I am willing to take my risk," Jacob suggested.

The Marquis shook his head.

"You do not know what the risks are," he answered. "I do. Come and
walk outside with me, Mr. Pratt. We have half an hour before we leave.
My people were more than ordinarily punctual."

They strolled down towards the sea. Jacob asked curious questions
about the little tower, and the Marquis unfastened a rope which held a
flat-bottomed boat.

"I will take you across the channel," he proposed, "and we will visit
it. We have never had a visitor yet who has departed without seeing
the keep. As a matter of fact, it is far older than the house, and
quite a curiosity of architecture."

They crossed the tidal channel, the Marquis paddling with slow but
graceful strokes. Arrived on the other side, he secured the boat and
led the way up a precipitous ledge to a nail-studded door, which he
opened with a key from a bunch which he had drawn from his pocket.

"The downstairs rooms are scarcely safe," he said, "there is so much
fallen masonry, but the one I am going to show you is our great pride.
You will find our visitors' book there."

He preceded his guest up a circular staircase, lit only by some narrow
slits in the walls. At the top he opened another door and Jacob
stepped into a great bare room. At the further end, through a broad
aperture, was a magnificent view of the open sea. Jacob stepped
forward to peer out. As he passed across the room, through another
aperture, facing landwards, he saw the dogcart driven out of the
stable yard, down the avenue, towards the moorland road which led to
the station.

"Hullo," he called out, "isn't that my carriage over there?"

He turned around. He was alone in the room, and from outside came the
ominous sound of the key turning in the lock. He strode towards it and
shouted through the grating which was let into the top part of the
door.

"Hi! Lord Delchester!"

The Marquis's face appeared on the other side of the grating. He
carefully shook the door, to be sure that it was locked.

"Mr. Pratt," he said, "you enter now upon a new phase of your stay at
Kelsoton Castle. If you look around the walls, you will find the
initials of your predecessors carved in many different forms. I trust
that you will make yourself as comfortable as possible under the
circumstances."

"Am I a prisoner?" Jacob asked.

The Marquis coug