by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER IV.
THE SIEGE OF SLUYS.
Until the Spaniards had established their camp, and planted some oftheir batteries, there was but little firing. Occasionally thewall-pieces opened upon parties of officers reconnoitring, and a fewshots were fired from time to time to harass the workmen in the enemy'sbatteries; but this was done rather to animate the townsmen, and as asignal to distant friends that so far matters were going on quietly,than with any hopes of arresting the progress of the enemy's works.Many sorties were made by the garrison, and fierce fighting took place,but only a score or two of men from each company were taken upon theseoccasions, and the boys were compelled to remain inactive spectators ofthe fight.
In these sorties the Spanish works were frequently held for a fewminutes, gabions thrown down, and guns overturned, but after doing asmuch damage as they could the assailants had to fall back again to thetown, being unable to resist the masses of pikemen brought up againstthem. The boldness of these sorties, and the bravery displayed by theirEnglish allies, greatly raised the spirits of the townsfolk, who noworganized themselves into companies, and undertook the work of guardingthe less exposed portion of the wall, thus enabling the garrison tokeep their whole strength at the points attacked.
The townsmen also laboured steadily in adding to the defences; and twocompanies of women were formed, under female captains, who took thenames of May in the Heart and Catherine the Rose. These did goodservice by building a strong fort at one of the threatened points, andthis work was in their honour christened Fort Venus.
"It is scarcely a compliment to Venus," Geoffrey laughed to hisbrother. "These square-shouldered and heavily-built women do not at allcorrespond with my idea of the goddess of love."
"They are strong enough for men," Lionel said. "I shouldn't like one ofthose big fat arms to come down upon my head. No, they are not pretty;but they look jolly and good-tempered, and if they were to fight ashard as they work they ought to do good service."
"There is a good deal of difference between them," Geoffrey said. "Lookat those three dark-haired women with neat trim figures. They do notlook as if they belonged to the same race as the others."
"They are not of the same race, lad," Captain Vere, who was standingclose by, said. "The big heavy women are Flemish, the others come, nodoubt, from the Walloon provinces bordering on France. The Walloonsbroke off from the rest of the states and joined the Spanish almostfrom the first. They were for the most part Catholics, and had littlein common with the people of the Low Country; but there were, ofcourse, many Protestants among them, and these were forced to emigrate,for the Spanish allow no Protestants in the country under their rule.Alva adopted the short and easy plan of murdering all the Protestantsin the towns he took; but the war is now conducted on rather morehumane principles, and the Protestants have the option given them ofchanging their faith or leaving the country.
"In this way, without intending it, the Spaniards have done goodservice to Holland, for hundreds of thousands of industrious peoplehave flocked there for shelter from Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and othercities that have fallen into the hands of the Spaniards, thus greatlyraising the population of Holland, and adding to its power of defence.Besides this, the presence of these exiles, and the knowledge that asimilar fate awaits themselves if they fall again under the yoke ofSpain, nerves the people to resist to the utmost. Had it not been forthe bigotry of the Spanish, and the abominable cruelties practised bythe Inquisition, the States would never have rebelled; and even afterthey did so, terms might easily have been made with them had they notbeen maddened by the wholesale massacres perpetrated by Alva. There, doyou hear those women speaking? Their language is French rather thanFlemish."
Just as they were speaking a heavy roar of cannon broke out from theeastern end of the town.
"They have opened fire on the castle!" Vere exclaimed. "Run, lads,quick! and summon the company to form in the market-place in front ofour house. We are told off to reinforce the garrison of the castle incase of attack."
The boys hurried away at the top of their speed. They had the list ofall the houses in which the men of the company were quartered; and asthe heavy roar of cannon had brought every one to their doors to hearwhat was going on, the company were in a very short time assembled.
Francis Vere placed himself at their head, and marched them through thelong streets of the town and out through the wall on to the bridge ofboats. It was the first time the boys had been under fire; and althoughthey kept a good countenance, they acknowledged to each otherafterwards that they had felt extremely uncomfortable as they traversedthe bridge with the balls whistling over their heads, and sometimesstriking the water close by and sending a shower of spray over thetroops.
THE FOUR PAGES CARRY DOWN THE WOUNDED SOLDIER]
They felt easier when they entered the castle and were protected by itswalls. Upon these the men took their station. Those with gunsdischarged their pieces against the Spanish artillerymen, the pikemenassisted the bombardiers to work the cannon, and the officers went toand fro encouraging the men. The pages of the company had little to dobeyond from time to time carrying cans of wine and water to the menengaged. Geoffrey and Lionel, finding that their services were notrequired by Captain Vere, mounted on to the wall, and shelteringthemselves as well as they could behind the battlements, looked out atwhat was going on.
"It doesn't seem to me," Geoffrey said, "that these walls will longwithstand the balls of the Spanish. The battlements are already knockeddown in several places, and I can hear after each shot strikes thewalls the splashing of the brickwork as it falls into the water. See!there is Tom Carroll struck down with a ball. It's our duty to carryhim away."
They ran along the wall to the fallen soldier. Two other pages came up,and the four carried him to the top of the steps and then down into thecourt-yard, where a Dutch surgeon took charge of him. His shoulder hadbeen struck by the ball, and the arm hung only by a shred of flesh. Thesurgeon shook his head.
"I can do nothing for him," he said. "He cannot live many hours."
Lionel had done his share in carrying the man down, but he now turnedsick and faint.
Geoffrey caught him by the arm. "Steady, old boy," he said; "it istrying at first, but we shall soon get accustomed to it. Here, take adraught of wine from this flask."
"I am better now," Lionel said, after taking a draught of wine. "I feltas if I was going to faint, Geoffrey. I don't know why I should, for Idid not feel frightened when we were on the wall."
"Oh, it has nothing to do with fear; it is just the sight of that poorfellow's blood. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that. Why, I sawWill Atkins, who was one of the best fighters and single-stick playersin Hedingham, go off in a dead swoon because a man he was working withcrushed his thumb between two heavy stones. Look, Lionel, what cracksthere are in the wall here. I don't think it will stand long. We hadbetter run up and tell Captain Vere, for it may come toppling down withsome of the men on it."
Captain Vere on hearing the news ran down and examined the wall.
"Yes," he said, "it is evidently going. A good earthwork is worth adozen of these walls. They will soon have the castle about our ears.However, it is of no great importance to us. I saw you lads just now onthe wall; I did not care about ordering you down at the time; but don'tgo up again except to help to carry down the wounded. Make it a rule,my boys, never to shirk your duty, however great the risk to life maybe; but, on the other hand, never risk your lives unless it is yourduty to do so. What is gallantry in the one case is foolishness in theother. Although you are but pages, yet it may well be that in such asiege as this you will have many opportunities of showing that you areof good English stock; but while I would have you shrink from no dangerwhen there is a need for you to expose yourselves, I say also that youshould in no way run into danger wantonly."
Several times in the course of the afternoon the boys took their turnin going up and helping to bring down wounded men. As the time went onseveral yawning gap
s appeared in the walls. The court-yard was strewnwith fragments of masonry, and the pages were ordered to keep undershelter of the wall of the castle unless summoned on duty. Indeed, thecourt-yard had now become a more dangerous station than the wallitself; for not only did the cannon-shot fly through the breaches, butfragments of bricks, mortar, and rubbish flew along with a force thatwould have been fatal to anything struck.
Some of the pages were big fellows of seventeen or eighteen years old,who had been serving for some years under Morgan and Williams, andwould soon be transferred into the ranks.
"I like not this sort of fighting," one of them said. "It is all verywell when it comes to push of pike with the Spaniards, but to remainhere like chickens in a coop while they batter away at us is a game forwhich I have no fancy. What say you, Master Vickars?"
"Well, it is my first experience, Somers, and I cannot say that it isagreeable. I do not know whether I should like hand-to-hand fightingbetter; but it seems to me at present that it would be certainly moreagreeable to be doing something than to be sitting here and listeningto the falls of the pieces of masonry and the whistling of the balls. Idon't see that they will be any nearer when they have knocked thisplace to pieces. They have no boats, and if they had, the guns on thecity wall would prevent their using them; besides, when the bridge ofboats is removed they could do nothing if they got here."
Towards evening a council was held, all the principal officers beingpresent, and it was decided to evacuate the castle. It could indeedhave been held for some days longer, but it was plain it would atlength become untenable; the bridge of boats had already been struck inseveral places, and some of the barges composing it had sunk level withthe water. Were it destroyed, the garrison of the castle would becompletely cut off, and as no great advantage was to be gained byholding the position, for it was evident that it was upon the other endof the town the main attack was to be made, it was decided to evacuateit under cover of night. As soon as it became dark this decision wascarried into effect, and for hours the troops worked steadily,transporting the guns, ammunition, and stores of all kinds across fromthe castle to the town.
Already communication with their friends outside had almost ceased, forthe first operation of the enemy had been to block the approach toSluys from the sea. Boats had been moored head and stern right acrossZwin, and a battery erected upon each shore to protect them; butCaptains Hart and Allen twice swam down to communicate with friendlyvessels below the obstacle, carrying despatches with them from thegovernor to the States-General, and from Roger Williams to the Englishcommanders, urging that no time should be lost in assembling an army tomarch to the relief of the town.
Both contained assurances that the garrison would defend the place tothe last extremity, but pointed out that it was only a question oftime, and that the town must fall unless relieved. The Dutch garrisonwere 800 strong, and had been joined by as many English. Parma had atfirst marched with but 6000 men against the city, but had very speedilydrawn much larger bodies of men towards him, and had, as Roger Williamsstates in a letter to the queen sent from Sluys at an early period ofthe siege, four regiments of Walloons, four of Germans, one ofItalians, one of Burgundians, fifty-two companies of Spaniards,twenty-four troops of horse, and forty-eight guns. This would give atotal of at least 17,000 men, and further reinforcements afterwardsarrived.
Against so overwhelming a force as this, it could not be hoped that thegarrison, outnumbered by more than ten to one, could long maintainthemselves, and the Duke of Parma looked for an easy conquest of theplace. By both parties the possession of Sluys was regarded as a matterof importance out of all proportion to the size and population of thetown; for at that time it was known in England that the King of Spainwas preparing a vast fleet for the invasion of Britain, and Sluys wasthe nearest point to our shores at which a fleet could gather and theforces of Parma embark to join those coming direct from, Spain. TheEnglish, therefore, were determined to maintain the place to the lastextremity, and while Parma had considered its capture as an affair of afew days only, the little garrison were determined that for weeks atany rate they would be able to prolong the resistance, feeling surethat before that time could elapse both the States and England, knowingthe importance of the struggle, would send forces to their relief.
The view taken as to the uselessness of defending the castle was fullyjustified, as the Spaniards on the following day removed the guns thatthey had employed in battering it, to their works facing the westerngate, and fire was opened next morning. Under cover of this the Spanishengineers pushed their trenches up to the very edge of the moat, inspite of several desperate sorties by the garrison. The boys had beenforbidden by Captain Vere to take their place with the company on thewalls.
"In time," he said, "as our force decreases, we shall want every onecapable of handling arms to man the breaches, but at present we are notin any extremity; and none save those whom duty compels to be theremust come under the fire of the Spaniards, for to do so would berisking life without gain."
They had, however, made friends with the wine merchant whose cellarsthey had visited, and obtained permission from him to visit the upperstorey of his warehouse whenever they chose. From a window here theywere enabled to watch all that was taking place, for the warehouse wasmuch higher than the walls. It was not in the direct line of fire ofthe Spanish batteries, for these were chiefly concentrated against thewall a little to their right. After heavy fighting the Spaniards onenight, by means of boats from the Zwin, landed upon the dyke whichdivided the moat into two channels, and thus established themselves soclose under the ramparts that the guns could not be brought to bearupon them. They proceeded to intrench themselves at once upon the dyke.
The governor, Arnold Groenvelt, consulted with the English leaders, anddecided that the enemy must be driven off this dyke immediately, orthat the safety of the city would be gravely imperilled. They thereforeassembled a force of four hundred men, sallied out of the south gate,where two bastions were erected on the dyke itself, and then advancedalong it to the assault of the Spaniards. The battle was a desperateone, the English and Dutch were aided by their comrades on the wall,who shot with guns and arquebuses against the Spaniards, while thelatter were similarly assisted by their friends along the outer edge ofthe moat, and received constant reinforcements by boats from theirships.
The odds were too great for the assailants, who were forced at last tofall back along the dyke to the south gate and to re-enter the town. Itwas already five weeks since the English had arrived to take part inthe defence, and the struggle now began upon a great scale--thirtycannon and eight culverins opening fire upon the walls. The heaviestfire was on St. James' day, the 25th of July, when 4000 shots werefired between three in the morning and five in the afternoon. Whilethis tremendous cannonade was going on, the boys could not but admirethe calmness shown by the population. Many of the shots, flying overthe top of the walls, struck the houses in the city, and the chimneys,tiles, and masses of masonry fell in the streets. Nevertheless thepeople continued their usual avocations. The shops were all open,though the men employed served their customers with breast and backpieces buckled on, and their arms close at hand, so that they could runto the walls at once to take part in their defence did the Spaniardsattempt an assault upon them. The women stood knitting at their doors,Frau Menyn looked as sharply after her maids as ever, and washing andscouring went on without interruption.
"I believe that woman will keep those girls at work after the Spaniardshave entered the city, and until they are thundering at the door,"Lionel said. "Who but a Dutch woman would give a thought to a fewparticles of dust on her furniture when an enemy was cannonading thetown?"
"I think she acts wisely after all, Lionel. The fact that everythinggoes on as usual here and in other houses takes people's thoughts offthe dangers of the position, and prevents anything like panic beingfelt."
The lads spent the greater part of the day at their look-out, and couldsee that the wall against which the Span
ish fire was directed was fastcrumbling. Looking down upon it, it seemed deserted of troops, for itwould be needlessly exposing the soldiers to death to place them therewhile the cannonade continued; but behind the wall, and in the streetleading to it, companies of English and Dutch soldiers could be seenseated or lying on the ground.
They were leaning out of the dormer-window in the high roof watchingthe Spanish soldiers in the batteries working their guns, when,happening to look round, they saw a crossbow protruded from a window ofthe warehouse to their right, and a moment afterwards the sharp twangof the bow was heard. There was nothing unusual in this; for althoughfirearms were now generally in use the long-bow and the cross-bow hadnot been entirely abandoned, and there were still archers in theEnglish army, and many still held that the bow was a far better weaponthan the arquebus, sending its shafts well nigh as far and with a trueraim.
"If that fellow is noticed," Geoffrey said, "we shall have the Spanishmusketeers sending their balls in this direction. The governor has, Iheard Captain Vere say, forbidden shooting from the warehouses, becausehe does not wish to attract the Spanish fire against them. Of coursewhen the wall yields and the breach has to be defended the warehouseswill be held, and as the windows will command the breach they will begreat aids to us then, and it would be a great disadvantage to us ifthe Spaniards now were to throw shells and fire-balls into thesehouses, and so to destroy them before they make their attack. Nor canmuch good be gained, for at this distance a cross-bow would scarcecarry its bolts beyond the moat."
"Most likely the man is using the cross-bow on purpose to avoidattracting the attention of the Spaniards, Geoffrey. At this distancethey could not see the cross-bow, while a puff of smoke would be sureto catch their eye."
"There, he has shot again. I did not see the quarrell fall in the moat.See, one of the Spanish soldiers from that battery is coming forward.There, he has stooped and picked something up. Hallo! do you see that?He has just raised his arm; that is a signal, surely."
"It certainly looked like it," Lionel agreed. "It was a sort of halfwave of the hand. That is very strange!"
"Very, Lionel; it looks to me very suspicious. It is quite possiblethat a piece of paper may have been tied round the bolt, and thatsomeone is sending information to the enemy. This ought to be lookedto."
"But what are we to do, Geoffrey? Merely seeing a Spanish soldier wavehis arm is scarcely reason enough for bringing an accusation againstanyone. We are not even sure that he picked up the bolt; and even if hedid, the action might have been a sort of mocking wave of the hand atthe failure of the shooter to send it as far as the battery."
"It might be, of course, Lionel. No, we have certainly nothing to goupon that would justify our making a report on the subject, but quiteenough to induce us to keep a watch on this fellow, whoever he may be.Let us see, to begin with, if he shoots again."
They waited for an hour, but the head of the cross-bow was not againthrust out of the window.
"He may have ceased shooting for either of two reasons," Geoffrey said."If he is a true man, because he sees that his bolts do not carry farenough to be of any use. If he is a traitor, because he has gained hisobject, and knows that his communication has reached his friendsoutside. We will go down now and inquire who is the occupier of thenext warehouse."
The merchant himself was not below, for as he did business with othertowns he had had nothing to do since Sluys was cut off from thesurrounded country; but one of his clerks was at work, making out billsand accounts in his office as if the thunder of the guns outside wasunheard by him. The boys had often spoken to him as they passed in andout.
"Who occupies the warehouse on the right?" Geoffrey asked himcarelessly.
"William Arnig," he replied. "He is a leading citizen, and one of thegreatest merchants in our trade. His cellars are the most extensive wehave, and he does a great trade in times of peace with Bruges, Ghent,Antwerp, and other towns."
"I suppose he is a Protestant like most of the towns-people?" Geoffreyremarked.
"No, he is a Catholic; but he is not one who pushes his opinionsstrongly, and he is well disposed to the cause, and a captain in one ofthe city bands. The Catholics and Protestants always dwell quietlytogether throughout the Low Countries, and would have no animositiesagainst each other were it not for the Spaniards. Formerly, at least,this was the case; but since the persecutions we have Protestant townsand Catholic towns, the one holding to the States cause, the othersiding with the Spaniards. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, I hadn't heard the name of your next neighbour, and was wonderingwho he might be."
The boys had now been nearly two months in Holland, and were beginningto understand the language, which is not difficult to acquire, anddiffered then even less than now from the dialect spoken in the easterncounties of England, between whom and Holland there had been for manygenerations much trade and intimate relations.
"What had we better do next, Geoffrey?" Lionel asked as they left thewarehouse.
"I think that in the first place, Lionel, we will take our post at thewindow to-morrow, and keep a close watch all day to see whether thisshooting is repeated. If it is, we had better report the matter toCaptain Vere, and leave him to decide what should be done. I do not seethat we could undertake anything alone, and in any case, you see, itwould be a serious matter to lay an accusation against a prominentcitizen who is actually a captain of one of the bands."
Upon the following day they took their post again at the window, andafter some hours watching saw three bolts fired from the next window.Watching intently, they saw the two first fall into the moat. Theycould not see where the other fell; but as there was no splash in thewater, they concluded that it had fallen beyond it, and in a minutethey saw a soldier again advance from the battery, pick up something atthe edge of the water, raise his arm, and retire. That evening whenCaptain Vere returned from the ramparts they informed him of what theyhad observed.
"Doubtless it is an act of treachery," he said, "and this merchant iscommunicating with the enemy. At the same time what you have seen,although convincing evidence to me, is scarce enough for me to denouncehim. Doubtless he does not write these letters until he is ready tofire them off, and were he arrested in his house or on his way to thewarehouse we might fail to find proofs of his guilt, and naught butill-feeling would be caused among his friends. No, whatever we do wemust do cautiously. Have you thought of any plan by which we mightcatch him in the act?"
"If two or three men could be introduced into his warehouse, andconcealed in the room from which he fires, they might succeed incatching him in the act, Captain Vere; but the room may be an empty onewithout any place whatever where they could be hidden, and unless theywere actually in the room they would be of little good, for he wouldhave time, if he heard footsteps, to thrust any letter he may havewritten into his mouth, and so destroy it before it could be seized."
"That is so," Captain Vere agreed. "The matter seems a difficult one,and yet it is of the greatest importance to hinder communications withthe Spaniards. To-night all the soldiers who can be spared, aided byall the citizens able to use matlock and pick, are to set to work tobegin to raise a half-moon round the windmill behind the point they areattacking, so as to have a second line to fall back upon when the wallgives way, which it will do ere long, for it is sorely shaken andbattered. It is most important to keep this from the knowledge of theSpaniards. Now, lads, you have shown your keenness by taking notice ofwhat is going on, see if you cannot go further, and hit upon some planof catching this traitor at his work. If before night we can think ofno scheme, I must go to the governor and tell him frankly that we havesuspicions of treachery, though we cannot prove them, and ask him, inorder to prevent the possibility of our plans being communicated to theenemy, to place some troops in all the warehouses along that line, sothat none can shoot therefrom any message to the Spaniards."
Just as Captain Vere finished his supper, the boys came into the roomagain.
"We have thought of a
plan, sir, that might succeed, although it wouldbe somewhat difficult. The dormer-window from which these bolts havebeen fired lies thirty or forty feet away from that from which we werelooking. The roof is so steep that no one could hold a footing upon itfor a moment, nor could a plank be placed upon which he could walk. Thewindow is about twelve feet from the top of the roof. We think that onestanding on the ledge of our window might climb on to its top, and oncethere swing a rope with a stout grapnel attached to catch on the ridgeof the roof; then two or three men might climb up there and workthemselves along, and then lower themselves down with a rope on to thetop of the next window. They would need to have ropes fastened roundtheir bodies, for the height is great, and a slip would mean death.
"The one farthest out on the window could lean over when he hears anoise below him, and when he saw the cross-bow thrust from the window,could by a sudden blow knock it from the fellow's hand, when it wouldslide down the roof and fall into the narrow yard between the warehouseand the walls. Of course some men would be placed there in readiness toseize it, and others at the door of the warehouse to arrest the traitorif he ran down."
"I think the plan is a good one, though somewhat difficult ofexecution," Captain Vere said. "But this enterprise on the roof wouldbe a difficult one and dangerous, since as you say a slip would meandeath."
"Lionel and myself, sir, would undertake that with the aid of twoactive men to hold the ropes for us. We have both done plenty ofbird-nesting in the woods of Hedingham, and are not likely to turngiddy."
"I don't think it is necessary for more than one to get down on to thatwindow," Captain Vere said. "Only one could so place himself as to lookdown upon the cross-bow. However, you shall divide the honour of theenterprise between you. You, as the eldest and strongest, Geoffrey,shall carry out your plan on the roof, while you, Lionel, shall takepost at the door with four men to arrest the traitor when he leaves. Iwill select two strong and active men to accompany you, Geoffrey, andaid you in your attempt; but mind, before you try to get out of thewindow and to climb on to its roof, have a strong rope fastened roundyour body and held by the others; then in case of a slip, they can haulyou in again. I will see that the ropes and grapnels are in readiness."
The next morning early Geoffrey proceeded with the two men who had beenselected to accompany him to his usual look-out. Both were active, wirymen, and entered fully into the spirit of the undertaking when Geoffreyexplained its nature to them. They looked out of the dormer-window atthe sharp roof slanting away in front of them and up to the ridge above.
"I think, Master Vickars," one of them, Roger Browne by name, said,"that I had best go up first. I served for some years at sea, and amused to climbing about in dizzy places. It is no easy matter to getfrom this window-sill astride the roof above us, and moreover I am morelike to heave the grapnel so that it will hook firmly on to the ridgethan you are."
"Very well, Roger. I should be willing to try, but doubtless you wouldmanage it far better than I should. But before you start we will fastenthe other rope round your body, as Captain Vere directed me to do. Thenin case you slip, or anything gives way with your weight, we can checkyou before you slide far down below us."
A rope was accordingly tied round the man's body under his arms. Takingthe grapnel, to which the other rope was attached, he got out on to thesill. It was not an easy task to climb up on to the ridge of thedormer-window, and it needed all his strength and activity toaccomplish the feat. Once astride of the ridge the rest was easy. Atthe first cast he threw the grapnel so that it caught securely on thetop of the roof. After testing it with two or three pulls he clamberedup, leaving the lower end of the rope hanging by the side of thewindow. As soon as he had gained this position Geoffrey, who was tofollow him, prepared to start.
According to the instructions Browne had given him he fastened the endof the rope which was round Browne's body under his own shoulders, thenleaning over and taking a firm hold of the rope to which the grapnelwas attached, he let himself out of the window. Browne hauled fromabove at the rope round his body, and he pulled himself with his handsby that attached to the grapnel, and presently reached the top.
"I am glad you came first, Roger," he said. "I do not think I couldhave ever pulled myself up if you had not assisted me."
He unfastened the rope, and the end was thrown down to the window, andJob Tredgold, the other man, fastened it round him and was hauled up asGeoffrey had been.
"We will move along now to that stack of chimneys coming through theroof four feet below the ridge on the town side," Geoffrey said. "Wecan stand down there out of sight of the Spaniards. We shall be sure toattract attention sitting up here, and might have some bullets flyinground our ears, besides which this fellow's friends might suspect ourobject and signal to him in some way. It is two hours yet to the timewhen we have twice seen him send his bolts across the moat."
This was accordingly done, and for an hour and a half they sat down onthe roof with their feet against the stack of chimneys.
"It is time to be moving now," Geoffrey said at last. "I think the bestway will be for me to get by the side of the dormer-window instead ofabove it. It would be very awkward leaning over there, and I should nothave strength to strike a blow; whereas with the rope under my arms andmy foot on the edge of the sill, which projects a few inches beyond theside of the window, I could stand upright and strike a downright blowon the cross-bow."
"That would be the best way, I think," Roger Browne agreed; "and I willcome down on to the top of the window and lean over. In the first placeyour foot might slip, and as you dangle there by the rope he might cutit and let you shoot over, or he might lean out and shoot you as youclimb up the roof again; but if I am above with my pistol in readinessthere will be no fear of accidents."
