"In a moment," replied John Vandeleur.
And, with that, he threw away the stump and, taking up the lantern,
sailed away under the verandah for the night. As soon as the door
was closed, absolute darkness fell upon the house; Francis might
try his eyesight as much as he pleased, he could not detect so much
as a single chink of light below a blind; and he concluded, with
great good sense, that the bed-chambers were all upon the other
side.
Early the next morning (for he was early awake after an
uncomfortable night upon the floor), he saw cause to adopt a
different explanation. The blinds rose, one after another, by
means of a spring in the interior, and disclosed steel shutters
such as we see on the front of shops; these in their turn were
rolled up by a similar contrivance; and for the space of about an
hour, the chambers were left open to the morning air. At the end
of that time Mr. Vandeleur, with his own hand, once more closed the
shutters and replaced the blinds from within.
While Francis was still marvelling at these precautions, the door
opened and a young girl came forth to look about her in the garden.
It was not two minutes before she re-entered the house, but even in
that short time he saw enough to convince him that she possessed
the most unusual attractions. His curiosity was not only highly
excited by this incident, but his spirits were improved to a still
more notable degree.
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