The foot of this stair was, strangely enough, one of
the only two points in the defence of the moat not absolutely
commanded from either one or the other of the two gates of the
castle. The top of the stair, however, was visible from one extreme
point over the western gate, and the moment Richard, finding the
small thick iron-studded door open, put his head out of the bastion,
he caught sight of a warder far away, against the moonlit sky. All
of the castle except the spot where that man stood, was hidden by
the near bulk of the keep. He drew back, and sat down on the top of
the stair--to think and let the water run from his clothes. When he
issued, it was again on all-fours. He had, however, only to creep an
inch or two to the right to be covered by one of the angles of the
tower.
But this shelter was merely momentary, for he must go round the
tower in search of some way to reach the courts beyond; and no
sooner had he passed the next angle than he found himself within
sight of one of the towers of the main entrance.
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