Leo's curiosity was now excited. He could not withstand the temptation to go on and have a look at the haunted tower, especially as he found that the passage was only a few feet long in the thickness of the old wall, and that a door at the other end was secured only by a large bolt. This bolt, although as rusty as such old bolts are sure to be, he managed to slip quite easily, with a noise that sounded ghostly enough in the dim, low passage, and the door opened without any difficulty, but his hopes of finding any interesting mediæval relics here were disappointed. He had entered a huge round room, evidently occupying the entire basement of the tower, which must have served in former times for the dwelling of the warder of the castle, although it had apparently not been inhabited for many years. The room was lighted by the old loop-holes, that had been glazed in modern times, and were high up near the ceiling of the apartment.
Several old pieces of furniture, a dilapidated table, and a child's crib, in which there were still some dirty pieces of bedding, were standing in disorder about the room. The thick coating of dust that lay everywhere upon everything was evidence that for years no one had used the apartment.
Leo made haste to leave so uninteresting a spot; he closed the door behind him, producing, as he bolted it again, the same unearthly creak that had startled the echoes a moment previously, and soon found himself once more in the spacious deserted kitchen. Here he now discovered a second door unbolted, by which he entered a large room with windows opening upon the court-yard. The coarse furniture and arrangement of this room bore evidence to Leo's mind that it was probably the abode of the old servant of whom the postmaster had made mention in his narrative. He would have passed through it to reach the court-yard by the opposite door, when this was suddenly opened from without, and an old man appeared upon the threshold with features inflamed with rage. He shouted out several words in utterly unintelligible German, and then threw himself upon the young man, clutching his throat with both hands with a strength and ferocity which could never have been looked for from his age and appearance. As he did so he uttered a shriek of rage that sounded more like the howl of a wild beast than any sound from human lungs.
For a moment Leo was confused by so unexpected an attack. He recoiled as the man rushed upon him with the evident intention of throttling him; but in the next instant he freed himself from the griping fingers at his throat, and threw off his assailant, exclaiming, "Take care! What do you mean?" words which received no reply save the same unmeaning howl and a second attack on the part of the old man. This time however Leo was prepared, and he repulsed his assailant with such vigour that he staggered backwards and fell on the floor.
Nothing daunted however, the furious creature was on his feet in an instant, and looking wildly about him, found what he sought,--a broad-bladed knife that lay upon the window-ledge. This he seized, and with another cry, rushed once more upon the young man.
It was a struggle for life. Hitherto Leo had only acted in self-defence; he could no longer spare his assailant. He avoided his savage thrust by stepping aside, and felled him to the floor with a blow on the side of his head. He fell headlong and for a moment lost his hold of the knife; it was but for a moment however: he had not lost consciousness; and again he would have imperilled Leo's life, when, "What is the matter here? Melcher, are you crazy?" was heard in a deep voice, and Herr von Heydeck appeared at the open door. The old man's hand, raised to strike, fell by his side, and the knife dropped from his grasp.
Left at liberty by his furious assailant, Leo could see what manner of man he was. The vacant, animal expression of the old fellow's coarse features placed it beyond all doubt that he had been attacked by a maniac. Leo remembered now that when he heard the name 'Melcher' the Tausens landlord had spoken of this son of old Stoffel's as a 'Troddel,' a name synonymous in the Tyrol with idiot.
Yes, old Melcher was an idiot; the vacant face and the protruding, watery blue eyes were idiotic; the sudden change in the countenance so lately animated by bestial rage, and now smiling a dull, unmeaning smile, was idiotic, and so also was the unintelligible, stammering speech in which he replied to Herr von Heydeck.
Was there any sense in what he said? Leo could not understand a single word, but he saw Herr von Heydeck's face grow dark, and noticed that he glanced anxiously towards the door of the old kitchen and then keenly at his nephew.
It was evident that his anger was roused by the old man's words; he turned hastily to Leo with, "What are you prying about here for? Why should you intrude here?"