Tudor Jenks

“ No attempt was made to dislodge the besiegers that night, since the garrison could not afford to lose many men, and Hugh advised that the time would be best spent in preparing for a vigorous bombardment on the morrow. Edgar accordingly, assisted by the Friar—who seemed to have a strong affection for all forms of artillery—put together several balistæ, and placed them on the walls wherever they could be brought to bear on the Count's works. The balista could be used at shorter range than the mangonel, being smaller, lighter, and more manageable. ”

“ When Luke the Lurdane returned from the attack he was too angry to go to the Count. But the Count sent for him, and, seeing his follower's bad temper, was fair enough to admit his mistake and his rashness.
"Luke, my man," he said, "you were right and I was wrong, and we have paid dearly for it. They tell me that we have lost a hundred men, one way or another, and that without killing a man of the garrison or cracking a stone of the fortress. It is too high a price to pay for my wrongheadedness. I still think that with brave men we might have overrun the defenses ”

“ They always cost lives, and lives cannot be spared. The chances are," he went on coolly enough, "that the Count will be able to demolish the gateway, and if the siege is a long one, he may get possession of some of the towers. All we can do is to make every advance as slow and as costly to him as we can. He is already made impatient by our resistance, and at the same time is becoming more cautious. When he first attacked us, he seemed to think he could take the castle by storm ”

“ I heard the whistling of the arrows to-day, and was glad of the good thick stone walls that protected me!"
Lady Mortimer here interposed, saying to Amabel reprovingly: "If we are to disturb the men with our talk, we had best withdraw. Quiet counsel for troubled times." ”

“ Then, by means of crowbars, these were placed under the long timbers that made the base of the mangonel, and in two or three hours the soldiers were able, by means of long levers and ropes, to roll the great machine back into the woods where it could no longer be seen by the defenders of the castle. Then the new timber was put in place, and the machine was again ready for action. ”