Page:Doughty--Mirrikh or A woman from Mars.djvu/84

 voice was heard, and that deep and sonorous, rising and falling until at length it appeared to die away in the distance, and profound stillness pervaded the interior of the tower once more.

For several seconds no one spoke.

“Wonderful!” breathed Maurice at last. “Never in all my life have I listened to music so heavenly. George, what can it mean?”

“I propose to find out what it means,” cried the Doctor, seizing a burning brand from the fire. “Follow me, gentlemen. We shall soon know.”

He moved towards the stone staircase which communicated with the upper portion of the tower. What the sensations of my friend De Veber may have been I cannot say, but I know mine, as we followed, were those of deepest awe.

As we ascended, the silence remained unbroken. Presently we reached the floor above, the Doctor flashed his torch about, but we could discern no one. The circular chamber in which we found ourselves was untenanted; the rain was beating in through the solitary window with wild fury and I found myself wondering where all the water went to and why  it had not long ago come pouring down about our heads.

“No one here!” breathed Philpot. “We must try the next floor above.”

We pushed on, but we might as well have spared ourselves the effort. There was no one to be found on that floor nor on the next, nor the next still.

Here the stairs came to an end. Nothing but a dilapidated wooden ladder remained, communicating with a small square opening like a scuttle, only there was no cover. Resolved to leave no portion of the tower unexplored, the Doctor even ascended to the opening, reporting nothing but the darkened vault of the heavens beyond.

We could go no further now, and just then a gust of wind extinguished the torch which Philpot had given Maurice to hold. A bat with flapping wings, disturbed by our intrusion, flew past my face, startling me more than I  would have cared to own; just then the Doctor came hurrying down the ladder with an imprecation upon our want of  success.

“By Jove! boys, this is most mysterious!” he exclaimed. “There’s no one in the tower but ourselves—that’s just as sure as fate.”