The three climbed up the narrow ladder and came past the great
clock, the leaden weights of which, had they fallen, would have
dashed through the stone steps, and soon the gentlemen sat on the
highest point. The Kammerjunker requested the telescope, placed it
and exclaimed:--

"Did I not think so? If one has not them always under one's eyes
they begin playing pranks! Yes, I see it very well! There, now, the
fellows who are working at the fences have begun to romp with the
girls! they do nothing! Yes, they don't believe that I am sitting
here in the tower and looking at them!"

"Then a telescope is, after all, a dangerous weapon!" exclaimed
Wilhelm. "You can look at people when they least expect it.
Fortunately, our seat lies hidden behind the wood: we are, at all
events, safe."

"Yes, that it is, my friend," returned the other; "the outer sides
of the garden are still bare. Did I not, last autumn, see Miss
Sophie quite distinctly, when she was gathering service-berries in
her little basket? And then, what tricks did she not play? She
certainly did not think that I sat here and watched tier pretty
gambols!"

They quitted the tower, and passed through the so-called Knight's
Hall, where immense beams, laid one on the other, supported the
roof. At either end of the hall was a huge fireplace, with armorial
bearings painted above: the hall was now used as a granary; they
were obliged to step over a heap of corn before reaching the family