The Shadow 326 Return of the Shadow by Maxwell Grant

Author:Maxwell Grant [Grant, Maxwell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 1963-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

TEN

THE EVER-CHANGING Hudson presented another of its varied aspects, when viewed from this lower altitude, where the River Road followed the contour of a gradual slope that shelved inward toward the receding hills. Here, grassy mounds and open knolls vied with wooded domes and craggy cliffs, while occasional roads ascended to houses that sparsely studded the higher reaches. Across the river, however, the scene was more mountainous than ever. Towering green summits blackened the water with their shadows, so that patches of scintillating blue were visible only beyond the distant bends.

The railroad ran between the highway and the river, cutting through low hillocks or slight rises, which the highway surmounted. At one such rise, an arrow pointed to a bridge that crossed the track, with a sign saying Castle Point. Cranston swung onto the bridge, which was strong and well built, though its wooden planking clattered as the car crossed it. Then, the side road dipped gradually toward a narrow neck of land which formed a causeway, leading straight into the looming bastion of Folly Castle itself.

That one entrance was through a huge, iron-grilled portcullis, a faithful replica of the great sliding gates that safeguarded the baronial strongholds of the Middle Ages. The castellated walls were also imposing, as were the square turrets at the corners. But the visitors gained only a brief glimpse of those, for now the portcullis was grinding straight upward and they were driving in beneath its yawning iron teeth. As Cranston braked the car in a courtyard, the portcullis clanged down behind them, a grim reminder that they were now within its metal maw.

Seen from the courtyard, the battlements were forbidding in their bulk, rising in irregular steps and terraces. But when Cranston and Harry walked through an inner gateway, where Palford was beckoning in his sidling fashion, the whole effect changed. They were in a great hall, its stone walls carved with bas reliefs of ancient battle scenes and a huge crystal chandelier hanging from its domed ceiling.

From there, Palford conducted them through lesser halls and up short stairs to various rooms and apartments, none of which seemed to be on the same level. It was plain to see why the castle and its furnishings had to be sold as a unit. In a large dining hall, the massive center table had great blocky legs that were fixed in the floor. Casement windows were set in the stone walls themselves. Instead of chairs, there were built-in window seat and stone benches.

Each short flight of steps had its permanently carved railing, while the Library had three decks of built-in book shelves, each with its own balcony. Metal light brackets were part of the grillwork that decorated the walls and ceiling. Palford kept pointing out such features as he chuckled:

“By the time you removed or dismantled all this, it would be a salvage operation. Anything taken out of here would not look right anywhere else.”

There were many tapestries on the walls, but those had been brought here by Palford himself.

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