Small, oblong windows appeared at intervals along the height of the tower. Their position was irregular, almost as if they were there merely to give light upon winding stairs, which ascended inside. Back of the tower was a huge building, irregular in shape, and representing several periods in the history of the country. Behind all this, the land stretched away, narrowing as it extended inland, until part of it which adjoined the mainland was little more than a causeway.
The Dolphin had approached from the sea, early that morning, and the detective, from her deck, had taken a thorough view of the harbor and all the surrounding territory.
No sign whatever of the Shadow had been discovered, and after standing on and off awhile, the Dolphin had sailed away again, and disappeared from view from the château, if, indeed, she had been seen from there at all.
But, nevertheless, the Dolphin had not gone far.
Three miles away a place had been discovered where the detective and his friend could be put ashore, and they had left the despatch-boat—really a vessel of war under that name—and embarked for the balance of their adventure on foot.
But the Dolphin was not to desert them. She was to stand on and off until she was signaled from the shore; and there was a code of signals arranged between her commander and the detective which made it possible for them to communicate in the night, as well as during the day.
As the two approached the causeway together, it was impossible to tell whether the castle was deserted or not. There certainly was no outward sign of life about the building, and already each of them had decided in his own mind that their search here would probably be fruitless.
However, the Dolphin had paused long enough before she arrived off the Château Cadillac for Nick to go ashore and communicate with the American ambassador in Paris, and by that means he had discovered that nothing whatever had been heard of Miss Harlan, or of her daring abductor, or, indeed, of the vessel in which she had been stolen away.
“I am afraid we are on the wrong scent, Nick,” said Kane, as they crossed the causeway together.
“Wrong or right, we will know one thing or the other for a certainty before we search elsewhere,” replied the detective. “I cannot disabuse my mind of the idea that he would bring Bessie here. Cadillac was no fool. He would know that the navies of the world would be after him since his exploit in capturing her. He would realize that you would report the matter at Washington, and that the cables would be kept hot about him. He could not hope to escape with the Shadow. Pirates cannot rove the seas now as they used to do, old man.”