“Herr Campe,” said he, “told me to come to you. He said you would speak to me.”
“Did he say anything more?”
“He told me to obey your orders.”
Ashton-Kirk nodded.
“Good!” said he. “Well, sergeant, I have a bit of work to do about the castle, and Mr. Scanlon is to be my guide.”
With not a vestige of expression upon his granite-like face, the sergeant-major again saluted.
“Now,” went on Ashton-Kirk, “I expect to be engaged for an hour or more. Keep watch at the gate, if any one approaches—any one, mind you—report to me before you admit him.”
Kretz nodded stiffly and departed; and then Ashton-Kirk turned to Scanlon.
“Are your nails still in the door to the vaults?”
“They are,” replied Scanlon, proudly. “Up to their heads, and holding like grim death.”