Just on the other side of the door was the rounded base of a tower, and, looking upward, the sky could be seen through many openings in the stonework.
There were four doors in this circular room, the one by which the boys had just entered, and the other three in a row, close together, directly opposite the tunnel entrance.
“This,” explained Henri, “is ‘Old Round Tower,’ far more ancient than the château itself, and one of the landmarks along the Meuse. I never cared much for it myself as a play place; it was too gloomy, and rats used to swarm here. I remember of seeing this door to the tunnel, but always thought it led to some cellar, and cellars are no novelties on these grounds. I don’t know how many casks of wine are underground about here, but there used to be a big lot.
“This door,” Henri was pointing to the middle one in the row, “opens on a passage that runs back of the state dining-hall of the château, and ends at a panel on the right of the most beautifully decorated fireplace you ever saw.
“The passages behind the other doors run to the upper floors of the north and south wings of the house.
“There are side connections to them all in the old part of the château. Of course, in the east and west wings, added years later, there are no secret passages nor sliding panels.”
“Which one leads to where the gold and jewels are kept?”
“I’ll show you in a little while, Billy.”
Henri pushed open the middle door of the row, and the boys had a whiff of musty tapestry and other shut-in odors which indicated that the passage had not been traveled for many a day.
Through the narrow way between the walls the boys walked, single file, leaving tracks in the dust and with many a sneeze and gasp.