Page:King James and the Egyptian robbers, or, The court cave of Fife (1).pdf/21

OR THE COURT CAVE OF FIFE.21 Egyptians. They perceived, with some surprise, that a considerable number of them left the rest, and made for the wood, and that those who remained, ceased the yelling manifestations of sorrow and revenge which had so affrightened Edith.

'They are meditating a retreat, methinks,' said the king.

'I fear, my liege,' said Walter, 'they are rather planning some mode of successful assault;' and the return of the Egyptians too soon verified the apprehension. They bore with them the trunk of a fallen tree, and the besieged at once saw the use for which this powerful engine was intended.

'My door can never withstand the shock of a ram like this,' cried Walter; 'they will force a passage and out, and, alas! your highness will be murdered—murdered in the house of Balmeny.'

James was proverbially brave, but it cannot be denied that he looked a little grave as he perceived the ponderous engine borne along, which, in all probability, would, in a few minutes, lay open the passage to a band of miscreants thirsting for his blood, and against whose rage the bravery of himself and his friends seemed a poor defence.

'Let the worst come to the worst,' said he at length; 'we three will make good this staircase for a stricken hour at least; before that time, the rescue must arrive.'

The King, Walter, and Arthur, now sought the floor below—Edith, with the serving-maidens, being stationed above, to be, in case of the Egyptians forcing an entry, still within the defence of the stair.

The door was of massive oak, studded with iron nails, and supported by three iron bolts of considerable thickness. An additional defence was now added in the shape of planks placed diagonally under these bolts, and for a few moments the besieged imagined it might withstand the efforts of the assailants. But a few strokes of the tree soon shewed the fallacy of this hope. The door shook under the first blow, and, ere a score had been given, the yielding hinges showed that the Egyptians had well calculated the force of their instrument.

'It must be cold steel that saves us after all,' said the king, retreating to the staircase.

'Oh, that I and all my kin were stark dead on this floor, and your highness safe on Falkland Green,' said Walter, wringing his wrinkled hands, and following.

They had scarcely gained their intended position at the upper landing of the staircase, when, yielding to a desperate