The pair went out beneath the portico and mounted a spiral stone
staircase, the round well of which rose through a high turret, beside
the hall in which they had been sitting. At the first floor up the
young man paused.

"No, no," said Cornelius. "The devil! this nook is the place where the
king takes his ease."

The architect had constructed the room given to the apprentice under
the pointed roof of the tower in which the staircase wound. It was a
little room, all of stone, cold and without ornament of any kind. The
tower stood in the middle of the facade on the courtyard, which, like
the courtyards of all provincial houses, was narrow and dark. At the
farther end, through an iron railing, could be seen a wretched garden
in which nothing grew but the mulberries which Cornelius had
introduced. The young nobleman took note of all this through the
loopholes on the spiral staircase, the moon casting, fortunately, a
brilliant light. A cot, a stool, a mismatched pitcher and basin formed
the entire furniture of the room. The light could enter only through
square openings, placed at intervals in the outside wall of the tower,
according, no doubt, to the exterior ornamentation.

"Here is your lodging," said Cornelius; "it is plain and solid and
contains all that is needed for sleep. Good night! Do not leave this
room as _the others_ did."

After giving his apprentice a last look full of many meanings,
Cornelius double-locked the door, took away the key and descended
the staircase, leaving the young nobleman as much befooled as a
bell-founder when on opening his mould he finds nothing. Alone, without