And these doors—there were two of them, he closed and locked in the same manner as he had served the others, so that presently he was satisfied that whatever adventures he might encounter inside the old château these seven men whom he had seen would take no part in them.
“And now for the tower,” he said, aloud, as he turned away.
CHAPTER XXII.
A COMBAT WITH THE RAPIERS.
But it was fated that Nick Carter was not to proceed at once to the tower of the castle.
The distance from where he turned again toward the front of the building, to that part of it which might properly be called the tower, was some hundreds of feet, and he had gone not more than half the distance when, just as he was passing a door, it was opened suddenly and a man stepped out upon the corridor, confronting him.
It would be difficult to determine which of the two was the more greatly surprised by the encounter, but it was certainly the detective who recovered from it first.
The man who confronted him paused in amazement. Then, when he perceived Nick was a stranger, he opened his mouth to cry out something. But on that instant Nick leaped forward. As he did so, the man started backward, with the cry still unuttered.
His step backward avoided the blow he would have received, but not all the consequences of it, for the detective, perceiving in time that his hand would fall short of reaching the fellow, altered his intention and turned his onslaught into a rush, so that his two hands fell upon the man’s chest, and he was thrown backward into the room where the detective followed him with a bound.