CHAPTER XIV
SPIKING THE GUNS
HARDLY had the colonel spoken these words than there came a loudshout from one of the men on the roof.
"The cannon, sir--six of them!"
With grave faces we ascended to the leads, and looking in thedirection of the road to Chalton, we saw the heavy pieces of ordnancedescending the hill, the horses making slow progress on the slipperychalk surface, which, by reason of the heavy rains, was little betterthan a quagmire.
"The fools have learnt wisdom," grumbled the colonel, as he saw thecannon unlimbered while still beyond musket range. Not even our smallordnance could throw a ball that distance, so we were perforce toremain inactive under a destructive fire.
Seeing that it would be madness to keep the garrison at their posts,I ordered the men to withdraw and take shelter within the courtyard,where, save for an occasional dropping fire from the musketeers, theywere in comparative safety, the double thickness of the wallspreventing the cannon-balls from passing completely through.
Hardly was the last man down than a sudden roar burst upon our ears,followed by an appalling crash of falling masonry.
The bombardment had commenced,
"If this continue, we shall have nothing but a breastwork of fallenstone to protect us," exclaimed Granville.
"'Tis better than nothing at all," replied the colonel, who wascalmly smoking his pipe. "Rubble masonry will serve the purposebetter than standing walls. Look!" he exclaimed, pointing through awindow. "'Twould have been farewell to us all had we remained on theroof."
The second discharge had blown in a part of the hall, and the roof,together with the culverins, had fallen in with a crash and a thickcloud of dust.
"It has cut off our retreat to the cellars," cried Granville,crestfallen.
"There is another entrance from the buttery," I replied. "But 'tisnot yet time to think of retreat."
The cannonade continued for over an hour, during which timethirty-two men clustered in helpless suspense against the inner wall;though at intervals the colonel, dauntless in danger, made his waythrough the ruined hall to make sure that the pikemen were notadvancing to the assault.
The firing had been directed almost at one spot, with the intentionof making a wide breach, and in this object the rebels succeeded. Toour surprise, however, we heard a trumpet sound a parley, and anotherenvoy appeared summoning us once again to surrender at discretion,otherwise a general assault would be made at daybreak on the morrow.To this proposal we gave a stern refusal.
"At daybreak to-morrow," quoth the colonel. "It gives us a chance.Now is the proper time to ask for volunteers, and to-night I'll leada party to attempt to spike the guns."
Both Ralph and I expressed our intention of accompanying him, but tothis he objected, saying that our place was within the walls of thecastle. Upon calling for volunteers, not less than twenty showedtheir willingness to make the attempt, and of these Colonel Firestoneselected six.
For the rest of the day we were unmolested, and making the most ofthis respite, we set about strengthening the battered walls andrepairing the breach with a wall of rough masonry faced with earthand straw.
As night drew on, the men selected for the forlorn attempt weremustered. Each of these was provided with a hammer and a couple ofsteel spikes, and in addition they were armed with swords andpistols.
The colonel gave the word in a low tone, and in perfect silencehandgrips were exchanged, and the little party filed out through thepostern.
Directly they had vanished through the darkness, the rest of thegarrison manned the walls, where, with matches ready to light, wewaited in deadly silence the result of the hazardous enterprise.
We relied upon the guns being in the same position they had occupiedduring the day. Although well in the rear of the rebel lines, theycommanded a clear front, so that, had the enemy neglected to postsentinels in the intervening gap, our men would doubtless be able toreach the object of their endeavours without hindrance.
Half an hour elapsed without any signs of the movements of ourfriends, though several of the watchers declared they heard the blowsof the hammers as the spikes were driven in--a manifestimpossibility, owing to the distance between the castle and the guns.
Suddenly the darkness was pierced by a bright flash, followed by areport of a musket.
Other flashes came in quick succession, and the next instant thewhole of the rebel lines became a ring of spitting fire.
The sortie had been discovered, and the besiegers in the trenches,not knowing the cause of the alarm, had expected a sudden attack, andin a panic had opened fire on all sides.
For over a quarter of an hour the fusillade continued, till we couldhear the trumpets sounding and the voices of the rebel officerscalling to their men to desist then all became quiet.
Although the postern was ready to be opened at the first signs oftheir return, none of our gallant friends reappeared, so withsorrowful hearts we realised that seven good men were lost to ourlittle garrison.
Even had Firestone succeeded in spiking the guns, our position wasindeed desperate. Scarce a mere handful of worn men remained to holdthe shattered walls; and, at any moment, the rebels were likely tothrow all their foot into the breach to attempt to carry the castleby escalade.
Would we see the setting of the morrow's sun? None could say.
"Poor old Firestone," said Granville. "I fear we shall never see himagain. He ought never to have gone."
"His leg was against him; he never had a fair chance," I replied.
"Then why did we allow him to go?"
"Ah, why?" I echoed bitterly.
Brave in conflict, crafty and wary in danger, and possessed of ironnerve, Firestone was undoubtedly a severe loss to us. Strangelyenough, when he proposed to lead the forlorn hope, none of us gave athought to his one physical defect. On horseback he was the equal ofany man, but when on foot the circumstances were totally different,and we blamed ourselves for letting him go.
For us sleep was out of the question; and, impatiently pacing theruined terrace, we awaited the dawn.
At length the pale grey sky began to brighten in the east. A thick,rolling mist filled the valley, while above the banks of vapour thedark, tree-clad downs assumed distorted and indistinct shapes.
Now, of all times, was the rebels' opportunity, but though the breachwas lined with our musketeers, there came no sign of the promisedassault.
As the day drew on the slanting rays of the rising sun graduallydispersed the mist, and presently we could see the rebel lines,marked by thin columns of smoke, where the men were preparing theirmorning meal. Then the ground on which the cannon had stood becamevisible, but instead of the six pieces of ordnance only threeremained, each surrounded by a crowd of soldiers.
As we looked, one of the guns was limbered up, and made off in thedirection of Chalton village, and shortly afterwards anotherfollowed.
Only one now remained, its muzzle threateningly trained on thecastle, yet 'twas evident that something was amiss, for men were hardat work on it.
"Firestone has not thrown himself away without reason," I exclaimed."See, they must have spiked every gun."
"Five of them hopelessly so, it seems," replied Ralph. "Thoughperchance this one is not totally disabled, and even yet we may get ataste of it."
"The threatened attack at daybreak has not taken place,nevertheless," I observed. "The rebels are not standing to theirarms."
"Perchance they await the support of an artillery fire. But let's tobreakfast, for later on we may have other work on hand."
We lost no time in falling in with Granville's suggestion, andimmediately after we set the men to work on constructing thick woodenmantlets, under the cover of which we still further repaired thebreach in the walls.
Unfortunately, a great part of the dislodged masonry had fallenoutwards, almost filling in the moat immediately in front of theweakest part of our defences; but behind the breach we built up asecond wall, breast high, backed by a platfo
rm of earth, so that wecould the better hold our own in a chance hand-to-hand conflict.
Barely had we completed these preparations when there came the deepboom of a cannon. The rebels had unspiked their sole remaining pieceof ordnance, and were renewing the attack.
The first shot, being totally unexpected, was particularlydisastrous, for three men were struck down, two being killedoutright, and one grievously wounded.
While the cannonade lasted, we, as before, could do nothing, butpresently we observed the pikemen and musketeers massing in solidranks, slightly to the left of the line of fire of the cannon. Thentwo dismounted officers made their way to the front, and took a longand careful look at our defences.
"There's Chaloner!" I exclaimed, pointing to one of the pair, whowere clad in complete breast and back pieces over their buff coats,and wore steel motions protected by guards. These accoutrements werenot worn by the dragoons, and Granville remarked about the fact.
"'Tis certain the rogue makes himself secure from pike-thrusts," heremarked, with a scornful laugh.
The rebel ranks were set in motion, and, with matches lighted andpikeheads gleaming in the sunlight, they advanced to the attack, thepikemen in the centre and the musketeers on either flank.
So intent were we on the oncoming danger that we almost failed tonotice a solitary horseman riding furiously down the hill-side fromthe clump of trees, from which he had emerged.
Spurring towards the deserted trenches, his horse cleared them at asingle bound, and ere either we or the rebels could grasp the meaningof it, the rider was halfway across the intervening ground.
"'Tis Firestone!" exclaimed Ralph and I simultaneously; and we werenot mistaken. The musketeers had now opened fire on the daring rider,and the bullets whistled past him on all sides, some tearing up theturf under his horse's hoofs; but he seemed to bear a charmed life,and, untouched, he gained the edge of the moat.
As he slipped from the saddle a bullet struck down his horse, butwithout hesitation the colonel jumped into the moat, and was soonsafely within the postern.
It was no time for explanations, so, picking up a musket, he took hisstand with us at the breach, and prepared to receive the shock ofbattle.
We lay close for fear of the musketeers' fire, till the first line ofpikemen, headed by Chaloner, gained the foot of the breach; then,pouring in a heavy discharge of muskets, we caused the line of pikesto waver. But by sheer dint of numbers they pressed on, shouting, "Noquarter!"
Pistol and musket shots still rang out, a thick smoke enshroudingboth sides, but the brunt of the work was done by sword-cut andpike-thrust. Men shouted in anger, or shrieked in mortal pain, butstill the slashing and hewing continued with unabated fury.
For my part, carried away by the heat of the struggle, I wasunconscious of what was taking place beyond my immediate front; butpresently I found myself face to face with my arch-enemy, Chaloner.
Doubtless his faith in his armour and the fear of Cromwell's threathad tamed his spirit of cowardice, for he fought bravely. Defendingmyself from his sweeping cuts, I succeeded in delivering some thruststhat, were it not for his steel plating, would have been mortal.
At length I put in a thrust beneath his guard, and the blade struckhome through the bars of his helmet.
With a cry, he turned; but ere he could get clear my sword passedbetween the top of his back-plate and the unguarded part of hisbended head. Had he carried his head erect this would have beenimpossible, but his cowardly instinct caused him to assume thatposture, and 'twas his undoing.
Before I could withdraw my blade I saw the butt of a musketdescending upon my head, and, with a blinding red glare before myeyes, I lost consciousness.