Will you please fasten a chair on the top step in such a
way that we can use it to climb over the barricade without delay? We are
like to be hard pressed, and it is no easy matter to get over a five-foot
wall speedily with a crowd of armed men pressing hotly on your heels."
The provost told two of his men to pick out a square block of firewood, as
nearly as possible the thickness of the height of one of the steps. After
trying several they found one that would do, and on placing it on the
stair next to the top it formed with the step above it a level platform.
On this the chair was placed, a strong rope being attached to it so that
it could be pulled up over the barricade when the last of the defenders
had entered. By the time this was finished the battle below began in
earnest. The infuriated assailants had pulled the doors outwards and were
making desperate efforts to climb the pile of logs. This they soon found
to be impossible, and began with their halberts to pull them down, and it
was not long before they had dislodged sufficient to make a slope up which
they could climb. Their work had not been carried on with impunity, for
the archer had stationed himself on the top and sent his arrows thick and
fast among them.
"In faith, master," he said to Guy, who stood close behind, "methinks that
I am doing almost as much harm as good, for I am aiding them mightily in
making their slope, which will presently contain as many dead men as
logs.
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