forgotten to shut and lock the door behind him. Archibald now slowly
opened it to its full extent; it creaked as it moved, and the draught of
air made his candle flicker, and caused strange shadows to dance for a
moment in the unexplored void beyond. In another breath Archibald had
crossed the threshold and arrived at the goal of his pilgrimage.

At first he could see very little; but there could be no doubt that he was
in a room which seemed to be of large extent, and for the existence of
which he could by no means account. The reader, who has been better
informed, will already have assigned it its true place in that unexplained
region mentioned some pages back, between the blind court and the east
chamber. Groping his way cautiously about, Archibald presently discerned a
burnished sconce affixed to the wall, in which having placed his candle,
the light was reflected over the room, so that the objects it contained
stood dimly forth. It was a room of fair extent and considerable height,
and was, apparently, furnished in a style of quaint and sombre
magnificence, such as no other apartment in Malmaison could show. The
arched ceiling was supported by vast oaken beams; the floor was inlaid
with polished marbles. The walls, instead of being hung with tapestry,
were painted in distemper with life-size figure subjects, representing, as
far as the boy could make out, some weird incantation scene. At one end of
the room stood a heavy cabinet, the shelves of which were piled with gold
and silver plate, richly chased, and evidently of great value. Here, in
fact, seemed to have been deposited many of the precious heirlooms of the
family, which had disappeared during the Jacobite rebellions, and were
supposed to have been lost. The cabinet was made of ebony inlaid with
ivory, as was also a broad round table in the centre of the room. In a
niche opposite the cabinet gleamed a complete suit of sixteenth century
armor; and so dry was the atmosphere of the apartment, that scarce a spot
of rust appeared upon the polished surface, which, however, like every