Saint George for England

G >> G. A. Henty >> Saint George for England

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Again ascending to the walls Walter saw that the first body of men-at-arms
he had perceived was followed at a distance by a strong force of footmen
having with them some large wagons.

"I fear," he said to Ralph, "that they have brought machines with them from
Amiens, and in that case they will not be long in effecting a breach, for
doubtless they know that the walls are but weak. We shall have to fight
stoutly, for it may be days before the news of our leaguer reaches the
camp. However, I trust that the prince will, by tomorrow night, when he
finds that two days have elapsed without the coming of my usual messenger,
suspect that we are besieged and will sally forth to our assistance. And
now let us to breakfast, for we shall need all our strength today, and you
may be sure that French will lose no time in attacking, seeing that
assistance may shortly arrive from Calais."

There were but few preparations to be made. Each man had had his post
assigned to him on the walls in case of an attack, and piles of stones had
been collected in readiness to cast down upon the heads of those attempting
an assault. Cauldrons were carried up to the walls and filled with water,
and great fires were lighted under them. In half an hour the French
infantry had reached the spot, but another two hours elapsed before any
hostile movement was made, the leaders of the assailants giving their men
that time to rest after their long march. Then a stir was visible among
them, and they were seen to form in four columns, each about a thousand
strong, which advanced simultaneously against opposite sides of the castle.
As soon as their intentions were manifest Walter divided his little force,
and these, gathering in four groups upon the walls, prepared to resist the
assault. To four of his most trusty men-at-arms he assigned the command of
these parties, he himself and Ralph being thus left free to give their aid
where it was most needed.

The assailants were well provided with scaling-ladders, and advanced with a
number of crossbow-men in front, who speedily opened a hot fire on the
walls. Walter ordered his archers to bide their time, and not to fire a
shot till certain that every shaft would tell. They accordingly waited
until the French arrived within fifty yards of the wall, when the arrows
began to rain among them with deadly effect, scarce one but struck its mark
- the face of an enemy. Even the closed vizors of the knights and chief
men-at-arms did not avail to protect their wearers; the shafts pierced
between the bars or penetrated the slits left open for sight, and many fell
slain by the first volley. But their numbers were far too great to allow
the columns being checked by the fire of so small a number of archers; the
front ranks, indeed, pressed forward more eagerly than before, being
anxious to reach the foot of the wall, where they would be in comparative
shelter from the arrows.

The archers disturbed themselves in no way at the reaching of the wall by
the heads of the columns; but continued to shoot fast and true into the
mass behind them, and as these were, for the most part, less completely
armed than their leaders, numbers fell under the fire of the sixty English
bowmen. It was the turn of the men-at-arms now. Immediately the assailants
poured into the dry moat and sought to raise their ladders the men-at-arms
hurled down the masses of stones piled in readiness, while some poured
buckets of boiling water over them. In spite of the loss they were
suffering the French raised their ladders, and, covering their heads with
their shields, the leaders strove to gain the walls. As they did so, some
of the archers took post in the flanking towers, and as with uplifted arms
the assailants climbed the ladders, the archers smote them above the joints
of their armour beneath the arm-pits, while the men-at-arms with pike and
battle-axe hewed down those who reached the top of the ladders. Walter and
Ralph hastened from point to point encouraging the men and joining in the
defence where the pressure was hottest; and at last, after two hours of
vain effort and suffering great loss, the assailants drew off and the
garrison had breathing time.

"Well done, my men!" Walter said, cheeringly; "they have had a lesson which
they will remember, and if so be that they have brought with them no
machines we may hold out against them for any time."

It was soon manifest, however, that along with the scaling-ladders the
enemy had brought one of their war-machines. Men were seen dragging massive
beams of timber towards the walls, and one of the wagons was drawn forward
and upset on its side at a distance of sixty yards from the wall, not,
however, without those who drew it suffering much from the arrows of the
bowmen. Behind the shelter thus formed the French began to put together the
machine, whose beams soon raised themselves high above the wagon.

In the meantime groups of men dragged great stones laid upon a sort of hand
sledge to the machine, and late in the afternoon it began to cast its
missiles against the wall. Against these Walter could do little. He had no
sacks, which, filled with earth, he might have lowered to cover the part of
the walls assailed, and beyond annoying those working the machines by
flights of arrows shot high in the air, so as to descend point downwards
among them, he could do nothing.

The wall crumbled rapidly beneath the blows of the great stones, and Walter
saw that by the following morning a breach would be effected. When night
fell he called his men together and asked if any would volunteer to carry
news through the enemy to the prince. The enterprise seemed well-nigh
hopeless, for the French, as if foreseeing that such an attempt might be
made, had encamped in a complete circle round the castle, as was manifest
by the position of their fires. Several men stepped forward, and Walter
chose three light and active men - archers - to attempt the enterprise.
These stripped off their steel caps and breastpieces, so that they might
move more quickly, and when the French fires burned low and all was quiet
save the creak of the machine and the dull heavy blows of the stones
against the wall, the three men were lowered by ropes at different points,
and started on their enterprise. A quarter of an hour later the garrison
heard shouts and cries, and knew that a vigilant watch had been set by the
French, and that one, if not all, of their friends had fallen into their
hands. All night long the machine continued to play.

An hour before daylight, when he deemed that the enemy's vigilance would be
relaxed, Walter caused himself with Ralph and twelve of his men-at-arms to
be lowered by ropes from the wall. Each rope had a loop at the bottom in
which one foot was placed, and knots were tied in order to give a better
grasp for the hands. They were lowered at a short distance from the spot at
which the machine was at work; all were armed with axes, and they made
their way unperceived until within a few yards of the wagon. Then there was
a cry of alarm, and in a moment they rushed forward among the enemy. The
men working the machine were instantly cut down, and Walter and his party
fell upon the machine, cutting the ropes and smashing the wheels and
pulleys and hewing away at the timber itself. In a minute or two, however,
they were attacked by the enemy, the officer in command having bade a
hundred men lie down to sleep close behind the machine in case the garrison
should attempt a sortie. Walter called upon Ralph and four of the men-
at-arms to stand beside him while the others continued their work of
destruction. The French came up in a tumultuous body, but, standing so far
apart that they could wield their axes, the English dealt such destruction
among their first assailants that these for a time recoiled. As fresh
numbers came up, encouraged by their leader they renewed the attack, and in
spite of the most tremendous efforts Walter and his party were driven back.
By this time, however, so much damage had been done to the machine that it
would be some hours before it could be repaired, even if spare ropes and
other appliances had been brought with it from Amiens; so that, reinforced
by the working party, Walter was again able to hold his ground and after
repulsing a fresh onslaught of the enemy he gave the word for his men to
retire at full speed.

The French were so surprised by the sudden disappearance of their foes that
it was a moment or two before they started in pursuit, and Walter and his
men had gained some thirty yards before the pursuit really commenced.

The night was a dark one, and they considerably increased this advantage
before they reach the foot of the wall, where the ropes were hanging.

"Has each of you found his rope?" Walter asked.

As soon as an affirmative answer was given he placed his foot in the loop
and shouted to the men above to draw up, and before the enraged enemy could
reach the spot the whole party were already some yards above their heads.
The archers opened fire upon the French, doing, in spite of the darkness,
considerable execution, for the men had snatched up their arms at the
sudden alarm, and had joined the fray in such haste that many of them had
not had time to put on their steel caps. There was noise and bustle in the
enemy's camp, for the whole force were now under arms, and in their anger
at the sudden blow which had been struck them some bodies of men even moved
forward towards the walls as if they intended to renew the assault of the
previous day; but the showers of arrows with which they were greeted cooled
their ardour and they presently retired out of reach of bowshot. There was
a respite now for the besiegers. No longer every few minutes did a heavy
stone strike the walls.

The morning's light enabled the defenders of the castle to see the extent
of the damage which the battering machine had effected. None too soon had
they put a stop to its work, for had it continued its operations another
hour or two would have effected a breach.

Already large portions of the wall facing it had fallen, and other portions
were so seriously damaged that a few more blows would have levelled them.

"At any rate," Walter said to Ralph, "we have gained a respite; but even
now I fear that if the Black Prince comes not until tomorrow he will arrive
too late."

The French, apparently as well aware as the garrison of the necessity for
haste, laboured at the repair of the machine. Bodies of men started to cut
down trees to supply the place of the beams which had been rendered
useless. Scarcely had the assault ceased when horsemen were despatched in
various directions to seek for fresh ropes, and by dint of the greatest
exertions the machine was placed in position to renew its attack shortly
after noon.

By two o'clock several large portions of the damaged wall had fallen, and
the debris formed a slope by which an assaulting column could rush to the
bridge. As soon as this was manifest the French force formed for the
assault and rushed forward in solid column.

Walter had made the best preparation possible for the defence. In the
courtyard behind the breach his men had since morning been driving a circle
of piles, connected by planks fastened to them. These were some five feet
high, and along the top and in the face next to the breach sharp-pointed
spikes and nails had been driven, rendering it difficult in the extreme for
anyone to climb over. As the column of the assailants approached Walter
placed his archers on the walls on either side of the breach, while he
himself, with his men-at-arms, took his station in the gap and faced the
coming host. The breach was some ten yards wide, but it was only for about
half this width that the mound of broken stones rendered it possible for
their enemies to assault, consequently there was but a space of some
fifteen feet in width to be defended. Regardless of the flights of arrows,
the French, headed by their knights and squires, advanced to the assault,
and clambering up the rough stones attacked the defenders.

Walter, with Ralph and three of his best men-at-arms, stood in the front
line and received the first shock of the assault. The roughness and
steepness of the mound prevented the French from attacking in regular
order, and the very eagerness of the knights and squires who came first in
contact with their enemies was a hindrance to them. When the columns were
seen gathering for the assault Walter had scattered several barrels full of
oil and tar which he found in the cellars over the mound in front of the
breach, rendering it greasy and slippery, and causing the assailants to
slip and stagger and many to fall as they pressed forward to the assault.
Before the fight commenced he had encouraged his soldiers by recalling to
them how a mere handful of men had at Cressy withstood for hours the
desperate efforts of the whole of the French army to break through their
line, and all were prepared to fight to the death.

The struggle was a desperate one. Served by their higher position, and by
the difficulties which the French encountered from the slipperiness of the
ground and their own fierce ardour to attack, Walter and his little band
for a long time resisted every effort. He with his sword and Ralph with his
heavy mace did great execution, and they were nobly seconded by their
men-at-arms. As fast as one fell another took his place. The breach in
front of them was cumbered with dead and red with blood. Still the French
poured upwards in a wave, and the sheer weight of their numbers and the
fatigue caused by the tremendous exertions the defenders were making began
to tell. Step by step the English were driven back, and Walter saw that the
defence could not much longer be continued. He bade one of his men-at-arms
at once order the archers to cease firing, and, leaving the walls, to take
refuge in the keep, and thence to open fire upon the French as they poured
through the breach.

When he found that this movement had been accomplished Walter bade the
men-at- arms fall back gradually. A gap had been left in the wooden fence
sufficient for one at a time to pass, and through this the men-at-arms
retired one by one to the keep until only Walter and five others were left.
With these Walter flung himself suddenly upon the assailants and forced
them a few feet down the slope. Then he gave the word, and all sprang
back, and leaping down from the wall into the courtyard ran through the
barrier, Walter and Ralph being the last to pass as the French with
exulting shouts leapt down from the breach. There was another fierce fight
at the barrier. Walter left Ralph to defend this with a few men-at- arms
while he saw that all was in readiness for closing the door rapidly in the
keep. Then he ran back again. He was but just in time. Ralph indeed could
for a long time have held the narrow passage, but the barriers themselves
were yielding. The French were pouring in through the breach, and as those
behind could not see the nature of the obstacle which arrested the advance
of their companions they continued to push forward, and by their weight
pressed those in front against the spikes in the barrier. Many perished
miserably on these. Others, whose armour protected them from this fate,
were crushed to death by the pressure; but this was now so great that the
timbers were yielding. Walter, seeing that in another moment they would be
levelled, gave the word, sprang back with Ralph and his party, and entered
the keep just as with a crash the barrier fell and the French poured in a
crowd into the courtyard. Bolting the door the defenders of the keep piled
against it the stones which had been laid in readiness.

The door was on the first floor, and was approached by a narrow flight of
stone steps, up which but two abreast could advance. In their first fury
the French poured up these steps, but from the loopholes which commanded it
the English bowmen shot so hard that their arrows pierced the strongest
armour. Smitten through vizor and armour, numbers of the bravest of the
assailants fell dead. Those who gained the top of the steps were assailed
by showers of boiling oil from an upper chamber which projected over the
door, and whose floor was pierced for this purpose, while from the top of
the keep showers of stones were poured down. After losing great numbers in
this desperate effort at assault the French drew off for a while, while
their leaders held council as to the best measures to be taken for the
capture of the keep.

After a time Walter from the summit saw several bodies of men detach
themselves from the crowd still without the castle and proceed into the
country. Two hours later they were seen returning laden with trunks of
trees. These were dragged through the breach, and were, in spite of the
efforts of the archers and of the men-at-arms with their stones, placed so
as to form a sort of penthouse against one side of the keep. Numbers of the
soldiers now poured up with sacks and all kinds of vessels which they had
gathered from the surrounding villages, filled with earth. This was thrown
over the beams until it filled all the crevices between them and formed a
covering a foot thick, so that neither boiling oil nor water poured from
above could penetrate to injure those working beneath its shelter. When all
was ready a strong body armed with picks and crowbars entered the penthouse
and began to labour to cut away the wall of the keep itself.

"Their commander knows his business," Walter said, "and the device is an
excellent one. We can do nothing, and it only depends upon the strength of
the wall how long we can hold out. The masonry is by no means good, and
before nightfall, unless aid comes, there will be nought for us but death
or surrender."

CHAPTER XVI: A PRISONER

As long as it was light an anxious look-out was kept from the top of the
keep towards Calais. There was nothing to be done. The besiegers who had
entered the walls were ensconced in the various buildings in the courtyard
or placed behind walls so as to be out of arrow-shot from above, and were
in readiness to repel any sortie which might be made to interfere with the
work going on under the penthouse. But no sortie was possible, for to
effect this it would be necessary to remove the stones from the door, and
before this could be accomplished the besiegers would have rallied in
overwhelming force, nor could a sortie have effected anything beyond the
slaying of the men actually engaged in the work. The beams of the
penthouse were too strong and too heavily weighted with earth to be
removed, and the attempt would only have entailed useless slaughter. The
penthouse was about forty feet in length, and the assailants were piercing
three openings, each of some six feet in width, leaving two strong
supporting pillars between them. Anxiously the garrison within listened to
the sounds of work, which became louder and louder as the walls crumbled
before the stroke of pickaxe and crowbar.

"I shall hold out until the last moment," Walter said to Ralph, "in hopes
of relief, but before they burst in I shall sound a parley. To resist
further would be a vain sacrifice of life."

Presently a movement could be seen among the stones, and then almost
simultaneously two apertures appeared. The chamber into which the openings
were made was a large one, being used as the common room of the garrison.
Here twenty archers, and the remaining men-at-arms - of whom nearly
one-half had fallen in the defence of the breach - were gathered, and the
instant the orifices appeared the archers began to send their arrows
through them. Then Walter ascended to another chamber, and ordered the
trumpeter to sound a parley.

The sound was repeated by the assailants' trumpeter.

"Who commands the force?" Walter asked.

"I, Guy, Count of Evreux."

"I am Sir Walter Somers," the young knight continued. "I wish to ask terms
for the garrison.

"You must surrender unconditionally," the count replied from the courtyard.
"In ten minutes we shall have completely pierced your walls, and you will
be at our mercy."

"You may pierce our walls," Walter replied, "but it will cost you many
lives before you force your way in; we will defend the hold from floor to
floor, and you know how desperate men can fight. It will cost you scores of
lives before you win your way to the summit of this keep; but if I have
your knightly word that the lives of all within these walls shall be
spared, then will I open the door and lay down our arms.

A consultation took place between the leaders below. There was truth in
Walter's words that very many lives would be sacrificed before the
resistance of so gallant a garrison could be overcome. Every minute was of
importance, for it was possible that at any moment aid might arrive from
Calais, and that the table would be turned upon the besiegers.

Therefore, after a short parley among themselves, the count replied:

"You have fought as a gallant knight and gentleman, Sir Walter Somers, and
have wrought grievous harm upon my leading. I should grieve that so brave a
knight should lose his life in a useless resistance. Therefore I agree to
your terms, and swear upon my knightly honour that upon your surrendering
yourselves prisoners of war, the lives of all within these walls shall be
spared."

Walter at once gave the order. The stones were removed and the door thrown
open, and leading his men Walter descended the steps into the courtyard,
which was now illuminated with torches, and handed his sword to the Count
of Evreux.

"You promised me, count," a tall knight standing by his side said, "that if
he were taken alive, the commander of this castle should be my prisoner."

"I did so, Sir Phillip Holbeaut. When you proposed this adventure to me,
and offered to place your following at my command, I agreed to the request
you made me; but mind," he said sternly, "my knightly word has been given
for his safety. See that he receives fair and gentle treatment at your
hand. I would not that aught should befall so brave a knight."

"I seek him no harm," the knight said angrily; "but I know that he is one
of the knights of the Black Prince's own suite, and that his ransom will be
freely paid, and as my coffers are low from the expenses of the war, I
would fain replenish them at the expense of the English prince."

"I said not that I doubted you, Sir Phillip," the count said calmly; "but
as the knight surrendered on my word, it was needful that I should warn you
to treat him as I myself should do did he remain in my hands, and to give
him fair treatment until duly ransomed."

"I should be glad, count," Walter said, "if you will suffer me to take with
me as companion in my captivity this man-at-arms. He is strongly attached
to me, and we have gone through many perils together; it will lighten my
captivity to have him by my side."

"Surely I will do so, Sir Walter, and wish that your boon had been a larger
one. The rest I will take back with me to Amiens, there to hold until
exchanged for some of those who at various times have fallen into your
king's hands. And now to work, men; lose not a moment in stripping the
castle of all that you choose to carry away, then apply fire to the
storehouses, granaries, and the hold itself. I would not that it remained
standing to serve as an outpost for the English."

The horses were brought from the stables. Walter and Ralph took their
horses by the bridle, and followed Sir Phillip Holbeaut through the now
open gates of the castle to the spot where the horses of the besiegers were
picketed. The knight, and his own men-at-arms, who had at the beginning of
the day numbered a hundred and fifty, but who were now scarcely two-thirds
of that strength, at once mounted with their prisoners, and rode off from
the castle. A few minutes later a glare of light burst out from behind
them. The count's orders had been obeyed; fire had been applied to the
stores of forage, and soon the castle of Pres was wrapped in flames.

"I like not our captor's manner," Ralph said to Walter as they rode along
side by side.

"I agree with you, Ralph. I believe that the reason which he gave the count
for his request was not a true one, though, indeed, I can see no other
motive which he could have for seeking to gain possession of me. Sir
Phillip, although a valiant knight, bears but an indifferent reputation. I
have heard that he is a cruel master to his serfs, and that when away
fighting in Germany he behaved so cruelly to the peasantry that even the
Germans, who are not nice in their modes of warfare, cried out against him.
It is an evil fortune that has thrown us into his hands; still, although
grasping and avaricious, he can hardly demand for a simple knight any
inordinate ransom. The French themselves would cry out did he do so, seeing
that so large a number of their own knights are in our hands, and that the
king has ample powers of retaliation; however, we need not look on the dark
side. It is not likely that our captivity will be a long one, for the
prince, who is the soul of generosity, will not haggle over terms, but will
pay my ransom as soon as he hears into whose hands I have fallen, while
there are scores of men-at-arms prisoners, whom he can exchange for you.
Doubtless Sir Phillip will send you over, as soon as he arrives at his
castle, with one of his own followers to treat for my ransom.

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