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  CHAPTER III -- A SIEGE

  The two men who had lit the alarm fires had already ridden in. Theyreported that they had, just as it became dark, seen flames rising from avillage three miles from them, and that the man in advance had riddenforward until near enough to see that a great body of men were issuingfrom the village in the direction of the castle.

  Ten of the English men-at-arms, and as many French, were now posted in theoutwork at the head of the drawbridge under the command of Jean Bouvard.Sir Eustace placed himself with his squire on the wall above the gate, andfour men were stationed at the chains of the drawbridge in readiness tohoist it should the order be given. The English archers were on the wallbeside Sir Eustace, as their arrows commanded the ground beyond theoutwork. Half an hour after the first alarm was given the tale of thetenants was found to be complete, and the guards on the other two roadshad also ridden in. Guy, to his great satisfaction, had been ordered bySir Eustace to don his armour and to take his place beside him.

  It was upwards of an hour before a body of horsemen could be heardapproaching. They came at a leisurely pace, for the bonfire on the roadand that on the keep had apprised them that their hope of taking thecastle by surprise had been frustrated by the disobedience of some oftheir men, who, in defiance of the strictest orders to the contrary, hadset fire to several houses in the village after having plundered them. SirEustace, accompanied by his esquire and Guy, descended from the wall andcrossed the drawbridge to the outwork. As soon as the horsemen came withinbow-shot of the castle they lighted some torches, and three knights,preceded by a trooper carrying a white flag, and two others with torches,came towards the work. When within fifty yards of the postern they halted.

  "Is Sieur Eustace de Villeroy present?"

  "I am here," Sir Eustace replied, and at his order two men with torchestook their place one on each side of him. "Who are you that approach mycastle in armed force?"

  "I am Sir Clugnet de Brabant, Admiral of France. These are Sir ManessierGuieret and Sir Hugh de Fruges, and we come in the name of the Duke ofOrleans to summon you to admit a garrison of his highness's troops."

  "I am neither for Orleans nor for Burgundy," Sir Eustace replied. "I am asimple knight, holding my castle and estate as a vassal of the crown, andam ready to obey the orders of the king,--and of him only when he is in acondition of mind to give such orders. Until then I shall hold my castle,and will admit no garrison whether of Orleans or of Burgundy."

  "We hold you to be but a false vassal of the crown, and we are told thatat heart you are an enemy to France and devoted to England."

  "I am a vassal of England for the estates of my wife in that country," SirEustace said; "and as at present there is a truce between the two nations,I can serve here the King of France as faithfully as if, in England, Ishould serve the King of England."

  "Nevertheless, Sir Eustace, you will have to receive a garrison ofOrleans. I have at my back eight thousand men, and if you compel me tostorm this hold of yours I warn you that all within its walls will be putto the sword."

  "Thanks for your warning, Sir Knight; and I on my part warn you that,eight thousand though you be, I shall resist you to the death, and thatyou will not carry eight thousand away. As for Sir Hugh de Fruges, I givehim my open defiance. I know it is to him that I owe this raid; and if hebe man enough, I challenge him to meet me in the morning on fair groundoutside this postern, with lance and battle-axe, to fight to the death. Ifhe conquers, my castle shall be surrendered to him, upon promise of goodtreatment and a safe-conduct to depart where they will for all within it;but if I slay him, you must give me your knightly oath that you and yourfollowing will depart forthwith."

  "The conditions would be hardly fair, Sir Eustace," Sir Clugnet said; "andthough I doubt not that Sir Hugh would gladly accept them, I cannot permithim to do so. I have brought some eight thousand men here to capture thiscastle, and hold it for the Duke of Orleans, and I see not why I shouldmarch away with them because you may perchance prove a better fighter thanSir Hugh. I am ready, however, to give a safe-conduct to all within thewalls if you will surrender."

  "That will I not do, Sir Clugnet. I hold this castle neither for Burgundynor Orleans, and am ready to give pledge that I will not draw sword foreither of these princes; but if that will not content you, you must eventake my castle if you can, and I give you fair warning that it will costyou dear."

  "Then adieu, Sir Knight, until to-morrow morning, when we will talk inother fashion."

  "So be it," Sir Eustace replied, "you will not find me backward inreturning any courtesies you may pay me."

  The knights turned away with their torch-bearers.

  "Keep a close watch to-night, Bouvard," Sir Eustace said. "Mark you whatthe knight said,--adieu till the morning. Had I to deal with a loyalgentleman I could have slept soundly, but with these adventurers it isdifferent. It may be that he truly does not intend to attack till morning,but it is more likely that he used the words in order to throw us off ourguard."

  "We will keep close ward, Sir Eustace. All the men-at-arms have theircross-bows, and though I say not that they can shoot like these Englisharchers, they can shoot straight enough to do good work should thosefellows attempt in force to cross the small moat and attack the gate. Butif they come, methinks it will be but to try if we are wakeful; 'tis nolight thing to attack even an outwork like this, with this loop from themoat surrounding it, without previous examination of the ground andreconnoitring of the castle."

  "They would not attempt to attack the fortress itself," Sir Eustace said;"but if they could seize this outwork by surprise it would mightily aidthem in their attack on the fortress; at any rate I will send down fivearchers, and if any of the enemy crawl up to see how wide the water ishere, and how the attempt had best be made, I warrant that they will notreturn if the archers can but get a sight of them. Post half your men onthe wall, and let the others sleep; change them every two hours--we wantno sleepy heads in the morning."

  By this time the confused sound of a large number of men marching could bemade out, and a quarter of an hour later three or four cottages, some fivehundred yards away, were fired, and an angry murmur broke from the men asthe flames shot up. After sending down the five archers, Sir Eustacereturned to his post over the main gate.

  "Get cressets and torches in readiness to light if they attack thepostern," Sir Eustace said; "we must have light to see how things go, sothat we may hoist the drawbridge as soon as our men are upon it, shouldthe enemy get the better of them. Be sure that one is not left behind; itwere better that half a dozen of the enemy set foot on the drawbridge thanthat one of our brave fellows should be sacrificed."

  "I should think that there is no fear of their attacking until thoseflames have burnt down; we should see them against the light," John Harpensaid.

  "No, there is no fear of their attacking; but the fire would be ofadvantage if any men were crawling up to spy. Of course they would notcross the slope in a line with the fire, but would work along on eitherside, reckoning, and with reason, that as our men would have the light intheir eyes they would be all the less likely to make out objects crawlingalong in the shade by the side of the moat. Plant half a dozen bowmen atintervals on the wall, Tom, and tell them to keep a shrewd eye on theground near the moat, and if they see aught moving there to try it with anarrow."

  There was shouting and noise up by the burning cottages, where the enemywere feasting on the spoils they had taken, and drinking from the wine-barrels that had been brought with them in carts from the last villagethat they had plundered.

  "I wish we were somewhat stronger, or they somewhat weaker," Sir Eustacesaid; "were it so, we would make a sally, and give the knaves a sharplesson, but with only two hundred men against their eight thousand itwould be madness to try it; we might slay a good many, but might lose ascore before we were back in the castle, and it would be a heavy loss tous."

  "I was thinking that myself, Sir Eustace," his esquire said. "That is theworst of being on the
defence; one sees such chances but cannot availone's self of them."

  In the castle everything was quiet, and all those not on duty were alreadyasleep. Along the wall watchers stood at short intervals peering into thedarkness, but the main body there were also stretched on the wall withtheir arms by their side until required to be up and doing. Now that SirEustace was himself at the gate his esquire went round the walls at shortintervals to be sure that the men on watch were vigilant. Presently a loudcry was heard from the corner of the moat away to the right.

  "Go and see what is doing, Guy," Sir Eustace said, "and bring me news."

  Guy ran along to the angle of the wall. Here one of the archers wasposted.

  "What is it, Dickon?"

  "A man crept up to that corner opposite, Master Guy. I could not havesworn to him, it is so pesky dark, but I thought there was somethingmoving there and shot almost at a venture, for I could scarce see the endof my arrow; but it hit there or thereabouts, for I heard him shout. Amoment later he was on his feet and running. I could see him more plainlythen, so I shot again, and over he went. I fancy that in the morning youwill see my arrow sticking up somewhere between his shoulder-blades,though there is no saying precisely, for a nicety of shooting is not to belooked for in the dark."

  "You have done very well, Dickon. Keep your eyes open; we may be surethere are more than one of these fellows about."

  Guy hurried back with the news.

  "That is good," said Sir Eustace, "and it was just as well that the archerdid not kill him outright with his first arrow, the cry will show any ofhis comrades who may be about that they had best keep their distance fromthe walls."

  A minute's silence followed, and then Long Tom said, "There is another hashad his lesson, Sir Eustace. I heard a bow twang across there, and asthere was no cry you may be sure that the shaft sped straight, and thatthe man had no time to utter one."

  "He may have been missed altogether, Tom."

  "Missed altogether! no indeed, Sir Eustace, there is no fear of that.There is not one of the men on the wall who would miss a man whose figurehe could make out at fifty yards' distance, and they would scarce see themuntil they were as close as that. No, my lord, I would wager a month's paythat when morning dawns there is a dead man lying somewhere in front ofthe outwork."

  "Now, Guy, you had best go up to your room and lie down until daylight,"Sir Eustace said. "There will be naught doing to-night, and unless I ammistaken, we shall be busy from sunrise till sunset. I shall myself liedown for a couple of hours presently, and then send John Harpen to resttill daylight. Long Tom, see that you yourself and all your men take ashort sleep by turns; we shall need your eyes to be open above all othersto-morrow."

  Guy promptly obeyed the order. Dame Margaret was still up.

  "Is everything quiet, Guy?" she asked as she entered,

  "So quiet, my lady, that Sir Eustace has ordered me to bed, and he saidthat he himself should come down for a short sleep presently. Two spieswho crawled up have been slain by the archers. Sir Eustace is sure that noattack will be made before morning."

  Then he went into his little room and threw himself onto his pallet.During the first few minutes he lifted his head several times fancyingthat he heard noises; then he fell into a sound sleep and did not awakeuntil the day dawned.

  In a few minutes Guy was on the wall. The night had passed quietly; so faras was known no fresh attempt at reconnoitring the works had been made,and as the moon had risen soon after he had gone to bed there was reasonto believe that the fact that the two spies had not returned was so stronga proof of the vigilance of the garrison, that the enemy had been contentto wait until morning. Just as the sun rose the three knights who hadsummoned the castle on the preceding evening appeared on the brow of theopposite slope, accompanied by a body of men-at-arms, and rode slowlyround the castle. From time to time they halted, and were evidentlyengaged in a discussion as to the point at which it could be bestattacked.

  "Shall I shoot, my lord?" Long Tom asked. "They are some two hundred andfifty yards away, but from this height methinks that I could reach them."

  "It would be useless," Sir Eustace said; "you could hit them, I doubt not,but you would not pierce their armour at this distance, and it is as wellthat they should not know how far our bows will carry until we are sure ofdoing execution when we shoot; besides I would rather that they began thefight. The quarrel is not one of my seeking, and I will leave it to themto open the ball. It is true that they did so last night by sending theirspies here, but we have balanced that account. Moreover, if they are toattack, the sooner the better. They may have gained news from Sir Hugh ofthe coming here of the English archers and the men-at-arms, but if theyhave not done so we shall have a rare surprise in store for them."

  After the knights had made a circuit of the castle they retired, andpresently a dense mass of men appeared from behind the brow on which thecottages they had burned had stood.

  "They have bundles of faggots, Sir Eustace!" Guy exclaimed.

  "So they have, Guy! Your eye is a good one. It seemed to me that theoutline was a strange one, but doubtless it is as you say--that each manhas a faggot on his shoulder. It is evident that they intend, in the firstplace, to assault the postern, and have brought the faggots to fill up theditch."

  Then he turned to the gunners at the cannon.

  "Lay your pieces so as to bear on them when they come half-way down thehill," he said, "and shoot when they are fairly in the line of fire. Takethe same orders, Guy, to the men working the ballistas and mangonels onthe wall. Tell them not to loose their machines until after the guns arefired. If the fellows take to flight, tell them not to waste theirmissiles; if they advance, let them be sure that they are well withinrange before they shoot."

  With loud shouts the enemy came down the slope. When they were half-waydown the two guns roared out, and their shot ploughed two lanes in thecrowded body. There was a movement of retreat, but the three knights andseveral others threw themselves in front, waving their swords andshouting, and the Orleanists rallied and moved forward, but at a muchslower pace than before. They had gone but a short distance when thearrows of the archers in the outwork and the bolts of the cross-bowsworked by the men-at-arms there, began to fall among them. So true was theaim of the archers that scarce a shaft was wasted. At the distance atwhich they were shooting they did not aim at the knights, whose vizors andcoats of mail could not have been pierced, but shot at the commonalty,whose faces and throats were for the most part unprotected. Man after manfell, and the cross-bow bolts also told heavily upon the crowd. They hadcome down but a short distance farther when Long Tom, and the archers withhim on the wall, began to send their arrows thick and fast, and themachines hurled heavy stones with tremendous force among them. A momentlater the French broke and fled up the slope again, leaving some fifty oftheir number stretched on the ground. The knights followed more slowly.When they reached the crest a group of them gathered around Sir Clugnet deBrabant.

  "By my faith," the latter said bitterly, "we have reckoned without ourhost, Sir Knights. We came to shear, but in good sooth we seem more likelyto go back shorn. Truly those knaves shoot marvellously; scarce an arrowwent astray."

  "As I mentioned to you, Sir Clugnet," Sir Hugh de Fruges said, "SirEustace brought with him from England five-and-twenty bowmen, and I heardtell from men who had seen them trying their skill at targets that theywere in no wise inferior to those with whom we have before had to deal toour cost."

  "Truly ye did so, Sir Hugh; but the matter made no impression upon mymind, except as a proof that the knight's inclinations were still withEngland, and that it were well that his castle were placed in betterkeeping; but in truth these fellows shoot marvellously, both for strengthand trueness of aim. I marked as we came back that of the men we passedlying there, nigh all those who had been struck with arrows were hit inthe face or throat, and yet the distance must have been over a hundred andfifty yards."

  "I can answer for the force," one of the
others said, "for a shaft struckme fairly on the chest, and hurled me to the ground as if it had been theshock of a lance, and it is well my mail was of the best work of Milan;but nevertheless the arrow broke two of the links; if the distance hadbeen shorter, I doubt not that it would have slain me. Well, what shall wedo next, gentlemen? For very shame we cannot with eight thousand men marchaway having accomplished nothing. The question is, where shall our nextattack be delivered?"

  "Methinks," another knight said, "we delivered our attack too rashly. HadI known that there were English archers there I should have advisedwaiting until nightfall, and I think that it would be best to do so now.If we take our fellows up while there is light they will suffer so muchfrom the stings of these wasps that they will soon lose heart. The knavesshoot not only straight and strong, but they shoot so fast that though, asyou say, there may be but twenty-five of them, the air seemed full ofarrows, and had you told us that there were two hundred archers shooting,I should have thought the estimate a reasonable one."

  They stood for some time discussing the best method of attack, and as soonas they had settled upon it the men were told to scatter. Some were to goto the farmhouses, and bring up any hides that might be stored there, andto fetch all the hurdles they could lay hands upon; a portion were to goto the woods and cut timber for making mantlets and cover, while twothousand were to remain under arms in case the garrison should make asortie.

  Within the castle all were in high spirits at the easy repulse of thefirst attack.

  "Sir Clugnet must have learned from Sir Hugh of my having English archersand men-at-arms here," Sir Eustace said to his lieutenant, "and yet headvanced as carelessly and confidently as if he had been attacking a placedefended only by fat Flemish burghers; however, he has had his lesson, andas it is said he is a good knight, he will doubtless profit by it, and weshall hear no more of him till after the sun has set. Run up to the top ofthe keep, Guy, and bring me back news what they are doing."

  In a few minutes the lad returned. "There are two or three thousand ofthem, my lord, drawn up in a body beyond the crest; the rest of them arescattering in various directions."

  "That is as I expected," Sir Eustace remarked; "they have gone to preparematerials for a regular attack. It may be delivered to-night, or may bedelayed for a day or two; however, we shall be ready for them. JeanBouvard, do you go round the walls and tell all, save a few as sentries,to retire until the watchman blows his horn to warn us if they seem to begathering for an attack; and do you, Long Tom, give the same orders toyour archers. There is no use wasting the men's strength till the workbegins in earnest. If Sir Clugnet is wise he will march away at once. Hewould need heavy machines and cannon to make a breach in our walls, andeven had he an abundance of them it would take him some time to do so. Ifhe tries again, you may be sure that it will be the work of Sir Hugh deFruges, who has no doubt a lively interest in the matter. He is a cleverfellow, and will no doubt do his best to work on the feelings of the otherknights by representing that it would be disgraceful for so large a forceto abandon the enterprise merely because a first hasty attack, deliveredwithout preparation, had been repulsed. The fact that they have made socareful an examination of the castle would seem in itself to show thatthey intended to renew the attempt in another form if the first onsetfailed, and, moreover, the scattering of the force afterwards while theknights still remained with a large body here points in the samedirection."

  Guy on descending from the keep joined Sir Eustace and his wife in theirapartments.

  "The lad has borne himself bravely," Sir Eustace said approvingly to hiswife; "he was standing beside me when their shot was bringing down thedust round our ears, and he neither started nor flinched, though in truthit was far from pleasant, especially as we had nothing to do but to lookon. It may be next time we shall have sterner fighting, and I doubt notthat he will bear himself well."

  "Could I not come up and carry your messages, father?" Henry asked; "I amnot strong like Guy, but I could do that."

  "He is too young for it yet, Eustace," Dame Margaret broke in.

  "Nay, wife," the knight said gently, "the lad is not too young for suchservice. There will be little danger in it, for his head will not showover the battlements, and it is well that he should learn to hear withoutfear the whizz of an arrow or the shock of a great stone from a ballista,the clash of arms, and the shouting of men. As he says, he is not yetstrong enough to bear arms, but he will learn to brace his nerves and showa bold front in danger; that is a lesson that cannot be learned too young.Yes, Henry, you shall be my messenger. If they try an assault to-night,you shall put on for the first time the steel cap and breastpiece I hadmade for you in England; there will be no danger of your being hit bycrossbow bolt or arrow, but there may be splinters of stone flying when amissile hits the battlement. Take no arms with you, only your dagger; theywould be useless to you, and would hamper your movements in getting pastthe men on the wall, or in running up and down the steps leading to it.Now you had better lie down; both Guy and myself are going to do so. Atsunset, if no alarm comes before, you will be called."

  "We must not coddle the boy, Margaret," he said as Guy and Henry went off."I know that he is not physically strong as yet, and sorry I am that itshould be so, but he might exert himself more than he does, and he is aptto think too much of his ailments. I was glad when he volunteered to dosomething, for it is at least as well that he should be able to stand fireeven if he cannot learn the use of arms; moreover, it may be that afteronce bearing a part in a fray he may incline more warmly to warlikeexercises than he has hitherto done; it may rouse in him a spirit whichhas so far been wanting. I have often thought that it would have beenbetter if Agnes had been the boy and he the girl; she has far more courageand fire than he has. You remember when that savage bull chased them, howshe saw him first over the stile and got tossed over after him for herpains?"

  Dame Margaret nodded. "I am not likely to forget it, Eustace, seeing thather arm was broken and I had to nurse her for six weeks. Do you know thatshe was up on the top of the keep while the fighting was going on? Ofcourse I was there myself, and she begged so hard to be allowed to remainwith me that I had not the heart to say her nay."

  "Was Henry there too?"

  "Oh, yes; and shouted with the best of them when the enemy fled over thehill. Even Charlie was there, and as excited as either of them. Of course,I had to hold him up sometimes for him to be able to see what was goingon; and he looked rather pale at first, when they opened fire, but he soonplucked up when he saw that their shot did no damage near us. You see heis a strong healthy boy; while Henry has always been weak, although I donot think that he lacks courage."

  "He ought not, wife; he comes from a fighting stock on either side. But Ifear that unless he changes greatly he is cut out rather for a monk than aman-at-arms. And now I will lie down, for you may be sure that I shall notclose an eye to-night. Did you note the banner of Hugh de Fruges with theothers?"

  "Yes, and I felt more uncomfortable after seeing it. He is a crafty man,Eustace."

  "He is not a brave one," the knight said scornfully. "I challenged him tomeet me outside in a fair field, and the craven did not answer me, and SirClugnet had to make speech for him and decline the offer."

  "You will need all your vigilance, Eustace. I trust that every man withinthe walls is faithful to us; but if there be a traitor, be sure that SirHugh will endeavour to plot with him, nay, he may already have done so."

  "They would have no chance of making communication with him were there adozen of them, wife. Long Tom and his comrades will take good care thatnone come near enough for speech."

  The day passed away in perfect quiet. From time to time word came downfrom the look-out that the scattered soldiers were returning laden with agreat quantity of young trees, wattles, and doors. Dame Margaret keptwatch in her room, and allowed no messengers to enter her husband'sapartments.

  "If there be need, I will wake him," she said; "but he knows well enoughwhat the Fr
ench have gone for, and there is naught to do until theyadvance to the attack."

  Guy slept but a short time, and as he frequently started up under theimpression that the horn was sounding an alarm, in the afternoon he got upand went down into the courtyard. For some time he wandered about in thequarters occupied by the tenants. These had now settled down; the childrenwere playing about as unconcernedly as if they had been on their fathers'farms; women were washing clothes or preparing the evening meal overlittle charcoal fires. A certain quantity of meat had been served out toeach family, and they were therefore doing better than in their ownhouses, for meat was a luxury seldom touched by the French peasantry.

  Almost all who had entered the castle had brought with them a supply ofherbs and vegetables; these, with a handful or two of coarsely-ground mealboiled into broth, constituted their usual fare, and the addition of aportion of meat afforded them great satisfaction. Some of the men werestill asleep, in preparation for a long night's work; others were standingabout talking in little groups; some were on the walls watching withgloomy faces the smoke wreaths that still rose from what had been theirhomes. Ducks, geese, and hens walked about unconcernedly looking for anystray grains that had passed unnoticed when they had last been fed, and achorus of dissatisfied grunting arose from the pigs that had a large penin the yard next to the huts. These were still smarting under a sense ofinjury excited not only by their removal from their familiar haunts, butby the fact that most of them had been hastily marked by a clipping ofsome kind in the ear in order to enable their owners to distinguish themfrom the others. Boys were carrying buckets of water from a well in thecourt-yard to the troughs for the cattle and horses, and the men-at-armswere cleaning their armour and polishing their steel caps.

  "Well, Tom, I hope we shall get on as well to-night as we did thismorning," Guy said to the leader of the archers.

  "I hope so, Master Guy, but I would rather fight by day than by night; itis random work when you can neither see your mark nor look straight alongyour arrow. If we had a moon we should do well enough, but on these darknights skill does not go for much; still, I doubt not that we shall give agood account of ourselves, for at any rate we shall be able to make themout before they come to close work. The women have been making a greatstore of torches to-day, and that will help us a bit, though I would thatthey could be planted fifty yards beyond the moat instead of on the walls,for although they will be of some use to us they will be of even more tothe enemy. What think you that their plan will be?"

  "I should say that they are intending to march forward covered by mantletsof wattles and hides. They will plant them near the edge of the moat, andthrow up some earthworks to shelter them and their machines; no doubt theywill use the doors they have fetched from all the farmhouses for the samepurpose."

  "The doors will be more to the point, certainly," the bowman said. "As totheir hides and wattles, at fifty yards I will warrant our arrows gothrough them as if they were paper; but I cannot say as much about stoutoaken doors--that is a target that I have never shot against; I fear thatthe shock would shiver the shafts. The mantlets too would serve them tosome purpose, for we should not know exactly where they were standingbehind them. As for their machines, they cannot have many of them."

  "They had something like a score of waggons with them, Tom; these wouldcarry the beams for half a dozen big ballistas; besides, they have theircannon."

  "I don't make much account of the cannon," the archer said; "they takepretty nearly an hour to load and fire them, and at that rate, howeverhard a shot may hit, it would be some time before they wrought much damageon the walls. It is the sound more than the danger that makes men afraidof the things, and, for my part, I would not take the trouble of draggingthem about. They are all very well on the walls of a castle, though I seenot that even there they are of great advantage over the old machines. Itis true that they shoot further, but that is of no great use. It is whenthe enemy come to attack that you want to kill them, and at fifty yards Iwould kill more men with my shafts in ten minutes than a cannon would dowith a week's firing. I wonder they trouble to carry them about with them,save that folks are not accustomed to their noise yet, and might opentheir gates when they see them, while they would make a stout defence ifthey had only ballistas and mangonels to deal with. I suppose when theyhave got the shelters close to the moat they will bring up planks to throwacross."

  "Yes, no doubt they will try that, Tom; but the moat is over wide forplanks, and I think it more likely that they will have provided themselveswith sacks, and filled them with earth, so as to make a passage acrosswith them."

  "As to the planks not being long enough, Master Guy, they could get overthat easy enough. They would only have to send three or four swimmersacross the moat, then thrust long beams over for those who had crossed tofix firmly, and then lay short planks across them."

  "So they would, Tom; I did not think of that. Well, at any rate, I expectthey will manage to get across the moat somehow and plant ladders againstthe wall."

  "And we shall chuck them down again," Tom said.

  "They won't care much for that. But as long as they cannot knock a breachin the walls I warrant that we can hold them."