The work went on. The Marshal also had been brought here by curiosity; he eagerly viewed the old furniture, and caused those pieces to be placed together, which, according to his idea, might be mended and used in the castle. The staircase was filled with household goods, and one of the servants' rooms was opened that the old things might be deposited in it. An hour had passed, the room became more empty, the sun was sinking, its rays reflected the image of the opening in the wall on the opposite side; the other chest was not to be found.
"Remove everything," said the Professor, "even to the last piece of wood."
A heap of old lances, broken glasses and pottery were fetched out of the corner, also broken legs of tables, split pieces of veneered wood, and in the corner a great pewter tankard:--the space was clear. On the floor lay gnawed pieces on which the death-watch had already done its work.
The Professor entered the door again.
"This room is cleared," he said, with forced composure, to the Castellan. "Open the next room."
"I do not believe that you will find anything in it," replied the weary man. "You will only find old shelves and stoves there that formerly stood in the castle."
"Let us go in," said the Professor.
The Castellan opened the door hesitatingly; a second room, still larger and less inviting, came to view; sooty earthen pans, bricks, and slabs of slate, lay mountain-high at the entrance, and over these were wooden tools that probably had been used in the last repairs of the castle.
"I am glad to see this," said the Marshal; "such a load on the upper story is wrong. This lumber must be taken out of the tower."
The Professor had ascended a hill of slate slabs, and was seeking in the darkness for another trunk, but the chaos was too great.