"That's simple," replied his friend. "These bandits who live here, brought the body up at the first convenient chance and left it here for the time being, but they may come for it any time so we had better be on the lookout for trouble.
"We don't have to; it is always on the lookout for us," replied Jim briefly and with truth.
"There's someone directly ahead," remarked the engineer, "or I miss my guess."
"Just wait a minute, Chief," said Jim; "I want to size up this castle before making the next move."
"You don't observe any anxiety on my part to go anywhere do you, Captain?" questioned Berwick.
"Quiet as a kitten," replied Jim with a grin, and then without any further remarks, he crawled past the form of the unfortunate man, until he reached the edge of the copse, and gathering a low bush around his shoulders so that he appeared to be a part of the natural scenery himself, he observed the castle closely with the eye of a trained scout.
The fog was rifted by the wind so that he could see with sufficient clearness the outlines and details of the high brick castle. As has been said, they were on the north side, where there was the large stained glass window that lit the grand staircase, and now shone with a faint radiance.
There was also a line of broad mullioned windows, their round, thick glass in circles of lead, gleaming like opals when the full light was within, but now cold and ghostly in the dimness of the fog-laden night. These windows were some twenty feet from the ground, and Jim's keen eyes regarded them with special interest. Further along and somewhat lower were the smaller windows, evidently of the kitchen, and near the ground several more heavily barred.
After a few minutes of observation, Jim returned to his companion, his mind fully made up.
"Well, James, what do you make of it?" queried his friend.