THE SIEGE OF SLUYS
Until the Spaniards had established their camp, and planted some
of their batteries, there was but little firing. Occasionally the
wall pieces opened upon parties of officers reconnoitring, and a few
shots were fired from time to time to harass the workmen in the
enemy's batteries; but this was done rather to animate the townsmen,
and as a signal 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 these occasions, and the boys were compelled to
remain inactive spectators of the fight.
In these sorties the Spanish works were frequently held for a few
minutes, gabions thrown down, and guns overturned, but after doing
as much damage as they could the assailants had to fall back again
to the town, being unable to resist the masses of pikemen brought
up against them. The boldness of these sorties, and the bravery
displayed by their English allies, greatly raised the spirits of
the townsfolk, who now organized themselves into companies, and
undertook the work of guarding the less exposed portion of the
wall, thus enabling the garrison to keep their whole strength at
the points attacked. The townsmen also laboured steadily in adding
to the defenses; and two companies of women were formed, under female
captains, who took the names of May in the Heart and Catherine the
Rose. These did good service by building a strong fort at one of
the threatened points, and this work was in their honour christened
Fort Venus.
"It is scarcely a compliment to Venus," Geoffrey laughed to his
brother. "These square shouldered and heavily built women do not
at all correspond with my idea of the goddess of love."
"They are strong enough for men," Lionel said. "I shouldn't like
one of those 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 as hard as they work they ought to do good service."
"There is a good deal of difference between them," Geoffrey said.
"Look at those three dark haired women with neat trim figures. They
do not look as if they belonged to the same race as the others."
"They are not of the same race, lad," Captain Vere, who was standing
close by, said. "The big heavy women are Flemish, the others come, no
doubt, from the Walloon provinces bordering on France. The Walloons
broke off from the rest of the states and joined the Spanish
almost from the first. They were for the most part Catholics, and
had little in common with the people of the Low Country; but there
were, of course, 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 Protestants in the towns he took; but the war is now
conducted on rather more humane principles, and the Protestants
have the option given them of changing their faith or leaving the
country.
"In this way, without intending it, the Spaniards have done good
service to Holland, for hundreds of thousands of industrious people
have flocked there for shelter from Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and
other cities that have fallen into the hands of the Spaniards,
thus greatly raising the population of Holland, and adding to its
power of defence. Besides this, the presence of these exiles, and
the knowledge that a similar fate awaits themselves if they fall
again under the yoke of Spain, nerves the people to resist to
the utmost. Had it not been for the bigotry of the Spanish, and
the abominable cruelties practised by the Inquisition, the States
would never have rebelled; and even after they did so, terms might
easily have been made with them had they not been maddened by the
wholesale massacres perpetrated by Alva. There, do you hear those
women speaking? Their language is French rather than Flemish."
Just as they were speaking a heavy roar of cannon broke out from
the eastern end of the town.
"They have opened fire on the castle!" Vere exclaimed. "Run, lads,
quick! and summon the company to form in the marketplace in front
of our house. We are told off to reinforce the garrison of the
castle in case of attack."
The boys hurried away at the top of their speed. They had the list
of all the houses in which the men of the company were quartered;
and as the heavy roar of cannon had brought every one to their
doors to hear what was going on, the company were in a very short
time assembled.
Francis Vere placed himself at their head, and marched them through
the long streets of the town and out through the wall on to the
bridge of boats. It was the first time the boys had been under
fire; and although they kept a good countenance, they acknowledged
to each other afterwards that they had felt extremely uncomfortable
as they traversed the bridge with the balls whistling over their
heads, and sometimes striking the water close by and sending a
shower of spray over the troops.
They felt easier when they entered the castle and were protected by
its walls. Upon these the men took their station. Those with guns
discharged their pieces against the Spanish artillerymen, the pikemen
assisted the bombardiers to work the cannon, and the officers went
to and fro encouraging the men. The pages of the company had little
to do beyond from time to time carrying cans of wine and water to
the men engaged. Geoffrey and Lionel, finding that their services
were not required by Captain Vere, mounted on to the wall, and
sheltering themselves as well as they could behind the battlements,
looked out at what was going on.
"It doesn't seem to me," Geoffrey said, "that these walls will long
withstand the balls of the Spanish. The battlements are already
knocked down in several places, and I can hear after each shot
strikes the walls 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 carry him 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 the courtyard, where a Dutch surgeon took charge of him. His
shoulder had been struck by the ball, and the arm hung only by a
shred of flesh. The surgeon 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 turned
sick and faint.
Geoffrey caught him by the arm. "Steady, old boy," he said; "it
is trying at first, but we shall soon get accustomed to it. Here,
take a draught of wine from this flask."
"I am better now," Lionel said, after taking a draught of wine.
"I felt as if I was going to faint, Geoffrey. I don't know why I
should, for I did not feel frightened when we were on the wall."
"Oh, it has nothing to do with fear; it is just the sight of that
poor fellow's blood. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that. Why,
I saw Will Atkins, who was one of the best fighters and singlestick
players in Hedingham, go off in a dead swoon because a man he was
working with crushed his thumb between two heavy stones. Look,
Lionel, what cracks there are in the wall here. I don't think it
will stand long. We had better run up and tell Captain Vere, for
it may come toppling down with some 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
a dozen 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 on the wall; I did not care about ordering you down at
the time; but don't go 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 may be; but, on the other hand, never risk
your lives unless it is your duty to do so. What is gallantry in the
one case is foolishness in the other. Although you are but pages,
yet it may well be that in such a siege as this you will have many
opportunities of showing that you are of good English stock; but
while I would have you shrink from no danger when there is a need
for you to expose yourselves, I say also that you should in no way
run into danger wantonly."
Several times in the course of the afternoon the boys took their
turn in going up and helping to bring down wounded men. As the time
went on several yawning gaps appeared in the walls. The courtyard
was strewn with fragments of masonry, and the pages were ordered
to keep under shelter of the wall of the castle unless summoned on
duty. Indeed, the courtyard had now become a more dangerous station
than the wall itself; for not only did the cannon shot fly through
the breaches, but fragments of bricks, mortar, and rubbish flew
along with a force that would 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,
and would soon be transferred into the ranks.
"I like not this sort of fighting," one of them said. "It is all
very well when it comes to push of pike with the Spaniards, but to
remain here like chickens in a coop while they batter away at us
is a game for which I have no fancy. What say you, Master Vickars?"
"Well, it is my first experience, Somers, and I cannot say that
it is agreeable. I do not know whether I should like hand to hand
fighting better; but it seems to me at present that it would be
certainly more agreeable to be doing something than to be sitting
here and listening to the falls of the pieces of masonry and the
whistling of the balls. I don't see that they will be any nearer
when they have knocked this place to pieces. They have no boats,
and if they had, the guns on the city wall would prevent their using
them; besides, when the bridge of boats is removed they could do
nothing if they got here."
Towards evening a council was held, all the principal officers
being present, and it was decided to evacuate the castle. It could
indeed have been held for some days longer, but it was plain it
would at length become untenable; the bridge of boats had already
been struck in several places, and some of the barges composing it
had sunk level with the water. Were it destroyed, the garrison of
the castle would be completely cut off; and as no great advantage
was to be gained by holding the position, for it was evident that
it was upon the other end of the town the main attack was to be
made, it was decided to evacuate it under cover of night. As soon
as it became dark this decision was carried into effect, and for
hours the troops worked steadily, transporting the guns, ammunition,
and stores of all kinds across from the castle to the town.
Already communication with their friends outside had almost ceased,
for the first operation of the enemy had been to block the approach
to Sluys from the sea. Floats had been moored head and stern right
across Zwin, and a battery erected upon each shore to protect them;
but Captains Hart and Allen twice swam down to communicate with
friendly vessels below the obstacle, carrying despatches with them
from the governor to the States General, and from Roger Williams
to the English commanders, urging that no time should be lost in
assembling an army to march to the relief of the town.
Both contained assurances that the garrison would defend the place
to the last extremity, but pointed out that it was only a question
of time, and that the town must fall unless relieved. The Dutch
garrison were 800 strong, and had been joined by as many English.
Parma had at first marched with but 6000 men against the city, but
had very speedily drawn much larger bodies of men towards him, and
had, as Roger Williams states in a letter to the queen sent from
Sluys at an early period of the siege, four regiments of Walloons,
four of Germans, one of Italians, one of Burgundians, fifty-two
companies of Spaniards, twenty-four troops of horse, and forty-eight
guns. This would give a total of at least 17,000 men, and further
reinforcements afterwards arrived.
Against so overwhelming a force as this, it could not be hoped
that the garrison, outnumbered by more than ten to one, could
long maintain themselves, and the Duke of Parma looked for an easy
conquest of the place. By both parties the possession of Sluys was
regarded as a matter of importance out of all proportion to the
size and population of the town; for at that time it was known in
England that the King of Spain was preparing a vast fleet for the
invasion of Britain, and Sluys was the nearest point to our shores
at which a fleet could gather and the forces of Parma embark to
join those coming direct from Spain. The English, therefore, were
determined to maintain the place to the last extremity; and while
Parma had considered its capture as an affair of a few days only,
the little garrison were determined that for weeks at any rate they
would be able to prolong the resistance, feeling sure that before
that time could elapse both the States and England, knowing the
importance of the struggle, would send forces to their relief.
The view taken as to the uselessness of defending the castle was
fully justified, as the Spaniards on the following day removed the
guns that they had employed in battering it, to their works facing
the western gate, and fire was opened next morning. Under cover
of this the Spanish engineers pushed their trenches up to the very
edge of the moat, in spite of several desperate sorties by the
garrison. The boys had been forbidden by Captain Vere to take their
place with the company on the walls.
"In time," he said, "as our force decreases, we shall want every
one capable of handling arms to man the breaches, but at present
we are not in any extremity; and none save those whom duty compels
to be there must come under the fire of the Spaniards, for to do
so would be risking life without gain."
They had, however, made friends with the wine merchant whose cellars
they had visited, and obtained permission from him to visit the
upper storey of his warehouse whenever they chose. From a window
here they were enabled to watch all that was taking place, for the
warehouse was much higher than the walls. It was not in the direct
line of fire of the Spanish batteries, for these were chiefly
concentrated against the wall a little to their right. After heavy
fighting the Spaniards one night, by means of boats from the Zwin,
landed upon the dyke which divided the moat into two channels, and
thus established themselves so close under the ramparts that the
guns could not be brought to bear upon them. They proceeded to
intrench themselves at once upon the dyke.
The governor, Arnold Groenvelt, consulted with the English leaders,
and decided that the enemy must be driven off this dyke immediately,
or that the safety of the city would be gravely imperilled. They
therefore assembled a force of four hundred men, sallied out of the
south gate, where two bastions were erected on the dyke itself, and
then advanced along it to the assault of the Spaniards. The battle
was a desperate one, the English and Dutch were aided by their
comrades on the wall, who shot with guns and arquebuses against
the Spaniards, while the later were similarly assisted by their
friends along the outer edge of the moat, and received constant
reinforcements by boats from their ships.
The odds were too great for the assailants, who were forced at last
to fall back along the dyke to the south gate and to re-enter the
town. It was already five weeks since the English had arrived to
take part in the defence, and the struggle now began upon a great
scale--thirty cannon and eight culverins opening fire upon the
walls. The heaviest fire was on St. James' day, the 25th of July,
when 4000 shots were fired between three in the morning and five
in the afternoon. While this tremendous cannonade was going on,
the boys could not but admire the calmness shown by the population.
Many of the shots, flying over the top of the walls, struck the
houses in the city, and the chimneys, tiles, and masses of masonry
fell in the streets. Nevertheless the people continued their usual
avocations. The shops were all open, though the men employed served
their customers with breast and back pieces buckled on, and their
arms close at hand, so that they could run to the walls at once
to take part in their defence did the Spaniards attempt an assault
upon them. The women stood knitting at their doors, Frau Menyn looked
as sharply after her maids as ever, and washing and scouring went
on without interruption.
"I believe that woman will keep those girls at work after the
Spaniards have entered the city, and until they are thundering
at the door," Lionel said. "Who but a Dutch woman would give a
thought to a few particles of dust on her furniture when an enemy
was cannonading the town?"
"I think she acts wisely after all, Lionel. The fact that everything
goes on as usual here and in other houses takes people's thoughts
off the dangers of the position, and prevents anything like panic
being felt."
The lads spent the greater part of the day at their lookout, and
could see that the wall against which the Spanish fire was directed
was fast crumbling. Looking down upon it, it seemed deserted of
troops, for it would be needlessly exposing the soldiers to death
to place them there while the cannonade continued; but behind the
wall, and in the street leading to it, companies of English and
Dutch soldiers could be seen seated or lying on the ground.
They were leaning out of the dormer window in the high roof watching
the Spanish soldiers in the batteries working their guns, when,
happening to look round, they saw a crossbow protruded from a window
of the warehouse to their right, and a moment afterwards the sharp
twang of the bow was heard. There was nothing unusual in this; for
although firearms were now generally in use the longbow and the
crossbow had not been entirely abandoned, and there were still
archers in the English army, and many still held that the bow was
a far better weapon than the arquebus, sending its shafts well nigh
as far and with a truer aim.
"If that fellow is noticed," Geoffrey said, "we shall have
the Spanish musketeers sending their balls in this direction. The
governor has, I heard Captain Vere say, forbidden shooting from the
warehouses, because he does not wish to attract the Spanish fire
against them. Of course when the wall yields and the breach has to
be defended the warehouses will be held, and as the windows will
command the breach they will be great aids to us then, and it would
be a great disadvantage to us if the Spaniards now were to throw
shells and fireballs into these houses, and so to destroy them
before they make their attack. Nor can much good be gained, for at
this distance a crossbow would scarce carry its bolts beyond the
moat."
"Most likely the man is using the crossbow on purpose to avoid
attracting the attention of the Spaniards, Geoffrey. At this distance
they could not see the crossbow, while a puff of smoke would be
sure to catch their eye."
"There, he has shot again. I did not see the quarrel 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
half wave of the hand. That is very strange!"
"Very, Lionel; it looks to me very suspicious. It is quite possible
that a piece of paper may have been tied round the bolt, and that
someone is sending information to the enemy. This ought to be looked
to."
"But what are we to do, Geoffrey? Merely seeing a Spanish soldier
wave his arm is scarcely reason enough for bringing an accusation
against anyone. We are not even sure that he picked up the bolt;
and even if he did, the action might have been a sort of mocking
wave of the hand at the failure of the shooter to send it as far
as the battery."
"It might be, of course, Lionel. No, we have certainly nothing to
go upon that would justify our making a report on the subject, but
quite enough 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 crossbow was not again
thrust 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 far enough to be of any use. If he is a traitor, because he
has gained his object, and knows that his communication has reached
his friends outside. We will go down now and inquire who is the
occupier of the next warehouse."
The merchant himself was not below, for as he did business with
other towns he had had nothing to do since Sluys was cut off from
the surrounded country; but one of his clerks was at work, making
out bills and accounts in his office as if the thunder of the guns
outside was unheard by him. The boys had often spoken to him as
they passed in and out.
"Who occupies the warehouse on the right?" Geoffrey asked him
carelessly.
"William Arnig," he replied. "He is a leading citizen, and one
of the greatest merchants in our trade. His cellars are the most
extensive we have, 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 townspeople?" Geoffrey
remarked.
"No, he is a Catholic; but he is not one who pushes his opinions
strongly, and, he is well disposed to the cause, and a captain in
one of the city bands. The Catholics and Protestants always dwell
quietly together throughout the Low Countries, and would have
no animosities against each other were it not for the Spaniards.
Formerly, at least, this was the case; but since the persecutions
we have Protestant towns and Catholic towns, the one holding to
the States cause, the other siding with the Spaniards. Why do you
ask?"
"Oh, I hadn't heard the name of your next neighbour, and, was
wondering who he might be."
The boys had now been nearly two months in Holland, and were beginning
to understand the language, which is not difficult to acquire, and
differed then even less than now from the dialect spoken in the
eastern counties of England, between whom and Holland there had
been for many generations much trade and intimate relations.
"What had we better do next, Geoffrey?" Lionel asked as they left
the warehouse.
"I think that in the first place, Lionel, we will take our post at
the window tomorrow, and keep a close watch all day to see whether
this shooting is repeated. If it is, we had better report the matter
to Captain Vere, and leave him to decide what should be done. I do
not see that we could undertake anything alone, and in any case,
you see, it would be a serious matter to lay an accusation against
a prominent citizen who is actually a captain of one of the bands."
Upon the following day they took their post again at the window,
and after some hours watching saw three bolts fired from the next
window. Watching intently, they saw the two first fall into the
moat. They could not see where the other fell; but as there was no
splash in the water, they concluded that it had fallen beyond it,
and in a minute they saw a soldier again advance from the battery,
pick up something at the edge of the water, raise his arm, and
retire. That evening when Captain Vere returned from the ramparts
they informed him of what they had observed.
"Doubtless it is an act of treachery," he said, "and this merchant
is communicating with the enemy. At the same time what you have
seen, although convincing evidence to me, is scarce enough for me
to denounce him. Doubtless he does not write these letters until
he is ready to fire them off, and were he arrested in his house
or on his way to the warehouse we might fail to find proofs of his
guilt, and naught but ill feeling would be caused among his friends.
No, whatever we do we must do cautiously. Have you thought of any
plan by which we might catch him in the act?"
"If two or three men could be introduced into his warehouse,
and concealed in the room from which he fires, they might succeed
in catching him in the act, Captain Vere; but the room may be an
empty one without any place whatever where they could be hidden,
and unless they were actually in the room they would be of little
good, for he would have time, if he heard footsteps, to thrust any
letter he may have written 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
with the Spaniards. Tonight all the soldiers who can be spared,
aided by all the citizens able to use mattock and pick, are to set
to work to begin to raise a half moon round the windmill behind
the point they are attacking, so as to have a second line to fall
back upon when the wall gives way, which it will do ere long, for
it is sorely shaken and battered. It is most important to keep this
from the knowledge of the Spaniards. Now, lads, you have shown your
keenness by taking notice of what is going on, see if you cannot
go further, and hit upon some plan of catching this traitor at his
work. If before night we can think of no scheme, I must go to the
governor and tell him frankly that we have suspicions of treachery,
though we cannot prove them, and ask him, in order to prevent the
possibility of our plans being communicated to the enemy, to place
some troops in all the warehouses along that line, so that none
can shoot there from any message to the Spaniards."
Just as Captain Vere finished his supper, the boys came into the
room again.
"We have thought of a plan, sir, that might succeed, although it
would be somewhat difficult. The dormer window from which these
bolts have been fired lies thirty or forty feet away from that from
which we were looking. The roof is so steep that no one could hold
a footing upon it for a moment, nor could a plank be placed upon
which he could walk. The window is about twelve feet from the top
of the roof. We think that one standing on the ledge of our window
might climb on to its top, and once there swing a rope with a stout
grapnel attached to catch on the ridge of the roof; then two or
three men might climb up there and work themselves along, and then
lower themselves down with a rope on to the top of the next window.
They would need to have ropes fastened round their 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
a noise below him, and when he saw the crossbow thrust from the
window, could by a sudden blow knock it from the fellow's hand,
when it would slide down the roof and fall into the narrow yard
between the warehouse and the walls. Of course some men would be
placed there in readiness to seize it, and others at the door of
the warehouse to arrest the traitor if he ran down."
"I think the plan is a good one, though somewhat difficult of
execution," Captain Vere said. "But this enterprise on the roof
would be a difficult one and dangerous, since as you say a slip
would mean death."
"Lionel and myself, sir, would undertake that with the aid of two
active men to hold the ropes for us. We have both done plenty of
bird nesting in the woods of Hedingham, and are not likely to turn
giddy."
"I don't think it is necessary for more than one to get down on to
that window," Captain Vere said. "Only one could so place himself
as to look down upon the crossbow. However, you shall divide
the honour of the enterprise between you. You, as the eldest and
strongest, Geoffrey, shall carry out your plan on the roof, while
you, Lionel, shall take post at the door with four men to arrest
the traitor when he leaves. I will select two strong and active
men to accompany you, Geoffrey, and aid you in your attempt; but
mind, before you try to get out of the window and to climb on to
its roof, have a strong rope fastened round your body and held by
the others; then in case of a slip, they can haul you 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
been selected to accompany him to his usual lookout. Both were
active, wiry men, and entered fully into the spirit of the undertaking
when Geoffrey explained its nature to them. They looked out of the
dormer window at the 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
am used to climbing about in dizzy places. It is no easy matter to
get from this window sill astride the roof above us, and moreover
I am more like to heave the grapnel so that it will hook firmly on
to the ridge than you are."
"Very well, Roger. I should be willing to try, but doubtless you
would manage it far better than I should. But before you start we
will fasten the other rope round your body, as Captain Vere directed
me to do. Then in case you slip, or anything gives way with your
weight, we can check you before you slide far down below us."
A rope was accordingly tied round the man's body under his arms.
Taking the grapnel, to which the other rope was attached, he got
out on to the sill. It was not an easy task to climb up on to the
ridge of the dormer window, and it needed all his strength and
activity to accomplish the feat. Once astride of the ridge the rest
was easy. At the first cast he threw the grapnel so that it caught
securely on the top of the roof. After testing it with two or three
pulls he clambered up, leaving the lower end of the rope hanging
by the side of the window. As soon as he had gained this position
Geoffrey, who was to follow him, prepared to start.
According to the instructions Browne had given him he fastened
the end of the rope which was round Browne's body under his own
shoulders, then leaning over and taking a firm hold of the rope to
which the grapnel was attached, he let himself out of the window.
Browne hauled from above at the rope round his body, and he pulled
himself with his hands by that attached to the grapnel, and presently
reached the top.
"I am glad you came first, Roger," he said. "I do not think I could
have ever pulled myself up if you had not assisted me."
He unfastened the rope, and the end was thrown down to the window,
and Job Tredgold, the other man, fastened it round him and was
hauled up as Geoffrey had been.
"We will move along now to that stack of chimneys coming through
the roof four feet below the ridge on the town side," Geoffrey
said. "We can stand down there out of sight of the Spaniards. We
shall be sure to attract attention sitting up here, and might have
some bullets flying round our ears, besides which this fellow's
friends might suspect our object and signal to him in some way. It
is two hours yet to the time when 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
on the roof with their feet against the stack of chimneys.
"It is time to be moving now," Geoffrey said at last. "I think the
best way will be for me to get by the side of the dormer window
instead of above it. It would be very awkward leaning over there,
and I should not have strength to strike a blow; whereas with
the rope under my arms and my foot on the edge of the sill, which
projects a few inches beyond the side of the window, I could stand
upright and strike a downright blow on the crossbow."
"That would be the best way, I think," Roger Browne agreed; "and
I will come down on to the top of the window and lean over. In the
first place your foot might slip, and as you dangle there by the
rope he might cut it and let you shoot over, or he might lean out
and shoot you as you climb up the roof again; but if I am above
with my pistol in readiness there will be no fear of accidents."