or,
while Will, grumbling, came on behind.

As we ascended the hill the view became wondrously grand. At least
fifteen miles of coast were to be seen, with great rugged cliffs,
hundreds of feet high, while huge rocks stood out in the sea as if
inviting the fury of the waves as they broke upon them. In winter it
must be almost terrible to live there, but now it was beautiful beyond
compare. We found, too, that the old house was somewhat sheltered, on
the one hand by the great headland which rose higher as it neared the
sea, and on the other by a thick, lofty wall. Besides this, a hill
which rose up landward broke the force of the wind, so that it was not
so exposed as I had at first thought.

There was no way of entering the grounds save by a door that was
locked. It was thick and heavy, made of oak, and iron studded.

"Evidently those within are determined to keep out intruders," I said,
as I saw the grim forbidding wall.

"I should think so," replied Will. "Now let's go on, for it's only
waste of time to stay here."

My love for the mysterious, however, was too strong to allow Will's
words to have due effect, and seeing a breach in the wall I climbed it.
I found that this enclosure had so far sheltered the grounds of the
house that a quantity of vegetation of various kinds had grown there,
and although the place was now in a very neglected condition, it must
in past years have provided for a great household. The house looked
extremely lonely, and no soul was to be seen. I confess I was taken a
little aback at this. To gain admittance did not seem either as
pleasant or as easy as at first sight. I did not like to shout. The
silence of the place, only broken by the sobbing of the waves, hundreds
of feet below, forbade it, while to knock at the old iron-studded door
was equally unseemly.

Yet I did not like to go away. My curiosity continued to increase, so
I came down from the wall and began to examine the door. To my delight
I saw fastened to a great gray rock, on which the door was partly hung,
a piece of iron at the end of a chain.

Evidently this was in some way a means of communication with the house.
I seized, and pulled it.

No sooner had I done so than I heard the clanging of a bell away up in
the old house.

"There," I said to Will, who had kept on protesting, "perhaps that is
like the bells in the old monasteries; it will frighten away all evil
spirits."

Will grumbled about my having