Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/470

450 murder shouts arose on all sides of treachery. In vain Ket attempted to appease the exasperation. He could not pacify the people, and he would not leave them. The herald retired from the city alone, and the chance of a bloodless termination of the rising was at an end.

The rebels, after the second capture of Norwich, had retained possession of it. Warwick instantly advanced. The gates were blown open, and he forced his way into the market-place, where sixty men, who were taken prisoners, were hanged on the spot. The insurgents, however, on their side, were not idle. A number of them, making the circuit of the walls, intercepted the ammunition waggons in the rear, and carried them off to Mousehold. The cannon were in front, and were placed at the north gate; but, with little or no powder, they were almost useless; and another party of the insurgents, with picked marksmen among them, charged up to the batteries, swept them clear of men by a wellaimed shot from a culverin, and carried off the guns in triumph.

Another storm of the city now seemed imminent. The force that Warwick had with him was the same which had been already defeated; a panic spread among them, and Warwick was urged to abandon the town—to retreat, and wait for reinforcements. But he knew that two days, at the furthest, would now bring them, and he would take the chances of the interval. Death, he said, was better than dishonour. He would not leave Norwich till he had either put down the rebellion or lost his life. But so