“Let me see that map,� said the Colonel. They spread it on the table and began to consider it.
“May I look?� asked Tom, as usual curious.
“Certainly,� said Verney. “I will explain it to you. See, here are bastions and these dots the cannon. Here is the tête du pont, a work to defend the upper ferry.�
“It is rather droll to me,� said Count Einstein. “Eighteen thousand men ought to be bastions enough.�
“Not for Sir William,� laughed Verney.
“It is Montresor’s own copy,� said Grimstone. “It is signed.�
“I should be pretty careful of it,� said the Count, a brave and well-trained soldier.
This readiness to explain the plans to Mrs. Markham and her interested boy seemed to him unwise. More than once full knowledge of contemplated army movements had in some mysterious way reached the snowbound enemy.
Mrs. Markham stood by looking over Tom’s shoulder, and presently said, “It is quite incomprehensible to me. Do you understand it, Tom?�
“I think so. See, mother, in one place he marks a weak point.�