"Up above?" said Monsieur Roger, without understanding.
"Yes, from the summit of the tower."
"You have climbed up the tower?"
"Several times."
"But it is falling into ruins, this poor tower; it has only one fault, that of having existed for two or three hundred years."
"It is indeed very old," answered Paul; "it is the last vestige of the old château of Sainte-Gemme, which, it is said, was built in the sixteenth century, or possibly even a century or two earlier; nobody is quite certain as to the date; at all events, the former proprietors several years ago determined to preserve it, and they even commenced some repairs upon it. The interior stairway has been put in part into sufficiently good condition to enable you to use it, if you at the same time call a little bit of gymnastics to your aid, as you will have to do at a few places. And I have used it in this way very often; but please now be good enough to——"
Paul stopped, hesitating.
"Good enough to what? Tell me."
Then Paul Solange added,—