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KING MATTHIAS AND THE BEGGAR BOY.
MR. SAMSON'S CASTLE.
Towards the close of a gloomy day in autumn, a very dusty traveller was riding quietly up to a castle which stood perched on a height in one of the northern counties of Hungary. A very extraordinary-looking castle it was, if it was a castle at all, which one might be inclined to doubt; for it looked more like a square block hewn by giants out of the ribs of the mountain, and left to itself for centuries, until its walls had become mouldy and moss-grown. One thing which gave it an odd appearance was that, as far as could be seen, it had no roof; the fact being that it was built round a quadrangle, and that the roof, or rather half-roof, sloped downwards and inwards from the top of the outer walls.
But what was even more remarkable still was that the building had neither door nor window in any one of its four sides; so that how the inhabitants, if there were any, ever went in or out, was quite a mystery.
People had had a good deal to say about the owner of this extraordinary stronghold for many a year past, and all sorts of wild stories were told of him. But no one but his own hired servants and men-at-arms had ever set eyes upon him--so far as they knew, that is to say.
Neither he nor his servants were ever to be seen coming or going, and how they managed was quite unknown; but for all that they made their presence felt, and very unpleasantly felt too.
The man on horseback had drawn nearer by this time, and was gazing up at the huge pile, scanning it carefully, but quite unable to discover so much as a chink or cranny in the grey, weather-beaten walls.
At last he shook his head and said with a smile, "Why, the castle is in such a strong position and so well fortified that it must be almost impregnable! But of course it is inhabited, and the inhabitants are human beings, not demons; and wherever human beings can dwell, human beings must also be able to enter.
"Well, I am here at last! and little enough Mr. Samson guesses what manner of visitor has come so close to his hiding-place. I am glad I came, for it is always best to see with one's own eyes. And now that I am here, the next thing is how to get in. Let us look and consider. No use," he continued, after a moment or two; "I can't think of any way. If I could only see some one, a living creature of some sort, to make inquiries of! Nonsense! I'll wager I know more about the nest than any one hereabouts.
"But still, I have been six hours on horseback, and as far as the eye can see there is no wayside inn or public-house or even farm-house in sight, and a man can't help being tired even if he be a vice-count--or more! Well, let's be going on," he went on, putting his horse once more in motion.
Quietly, and with eyes and ears both on the alert, he rode round the height on which the fortress stood.
"If I don't see anything," he said to himself with a laugh, "they don't see me; let's be off!
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