Page:Tudor Jenks--The defense of the castle.djvu/195

Rh was to extinguish the flames, which they did by throwing water or sand upon them. These men were often within range of Hugh's archers, and many of them lost their lives, for they were compelled to lean over the bulwarks whenever a flame caught upon the front of the tower.

Considerable damage was inflicted by the marksmen of the castle, but not enough to disable the tower in any essential portion, and the loss of men on the part of the defenders during this brief struggle was more than had been suffered at any time during the siege, and yet little harm was done to their enemies.

Hugh ran hither and thither, now snatching a bow from one of his men when he saw an opportunity for a favorable shot, and now lending an arm to direct the discharge of a mangonel; and his men, many of them stripped to the waist, were quite as energetic and equally reckless in exposing themselves to the arrows of the enemy; but, in spite of all efforts, the Count's men succeeded in placing the great timbers across the moat, and then, retiring within the shelter of their tower began to propel it nearer, making all the haste they could, but of course attaining no great speed.