Page:Tudor Jenks--The defense of the castle.djvu/165

Rh from the horde of scoundrels the Count had brought against him.

As it was now twilight, and all operations on the part of the besiegers seemed to be suspended, Edgar sent a message to say that he would await the Friar in the great hall, and then walked slowly to the keep. Here he found his mother and Amabel, who had been attending to the archers and others wounded on the battlements during the fight with the tower. They reported that many of these were doing well, but that one of them had received a fatal wound. Edgar went at once to see this man, and was able to soothe the poor fellow's last moments by assuring him that his family should be cared for. Upon returning to the hall, Edgar found that the Friar, having reassumed his usual dress, was awaiting him in order to give an account of his adventures. Edgar sent for Hugh, and the Friar began his story as soon as the old soldier arrived:

"Just at break of day, as you know, I left the castle by that break-neck path that leads down to the river—a path fitter for a young goat than for the feet of an aged friar. Luckily, I did not fall till I was within some ten feet of the bottom; and so instead of breaking my leg, I only scraped the skin from my wrist, and wrenched my ankle. Then I made the best of my way through the