I went down the stone stairs to the door where I had first entered the castle. I found that the bars across the door were easy enough for me to pull back, and it was easy to unhook the great chains. But the door was locked, and the key was gone! That key must be in the count's room. I must watch in case I could ever get into that room, and get the key and escape. Next, I carefully checked all the stairs and passages, and tried to open the doors. One or two small rooms near the hall were open. But there was nothing to see in them except old furniture, dusty with age and damaged by insects. At last I found one door at the top of the stairway which, though it seemed locked, opened a bit when I pushed it.

I pushed harder, and found that it was not really locked, but that it was hard to open because the hinges had fallen a bit, so that the heavy door rested on the floor. This was a chance which I might not get again, so I tried even harder. Finally I forced the door back so that I could enter. I was now in another part of the castle. This was further to the right than the rooms I knew. I was also one level lower down.

From the windows I could see that these rooms were to the south of the castle, and the windows of the end room looked out west and south. On the south side, and also to the west, there was a steep cliff. The castle was built on the corner of a huge rock, so that on three sides it was quite impossible to attack. These rooms had large windows since no weapons could reach them even if the castle was attacked. Because it was safe, there was light and comfort which could not be found in a room which had to be guarded.