The girls followed, laughing at the two boys. Jack got up and dusted himself. “Let’s go up the tower first,” he said. “Look at the walls! They seem about four feet thick! My word, they knew how to build in the old days!”
The tower was very solid indeed. It had a small winding staircase that ran round and round as it went upwards. There were four rooms in the tower, one on top of the other.
“They are all quite round,“ said Jack. “Just as ours are in the Peep-Hole tower. I say! What a magnificent view you get over the sea from this top room!”
The children stood in silence and looked out of the window over the sea. It shimmered there for miles in the sun, purple blue, with tiny white flecks where the water washed over hidden rocks.
“You can see the tower of Peep-Hole very well from here,” said Mike. “The two towers must have been built in these special positions so that the smugglers could signal to each other. If one of us were in our tower to-day we could easily wave a hanky to the others here, and it would be seen perfectly.”
“Mike! Jack! I can hear something!” said Nora suddenly. She had very sharp ears.
The others looked startled. “Whatever do you mean, Nora?” said Jack. “I can hear things too - the birds singing, and the far-away sound of the sea!”
“I don’t mean those,” said Nora. “I am sure I heard voices.”
“Voices! In an old empty house that hasn’t been lived in for years!” said Jack, laughing.
“I tell you I did,” said Nora. She suddenly pointed out through one of the tower windows. “Just look down there!” she said. “You can see the front gate from here - look at it!”