Page:Tudor Jenks--The defense of the castle.djvu/287

259 was to be used will be seen in telling of the attack.

While the Count's forces occupied the attention of the garrison by a feigned attack, sending flights of arrows against all exposed points, Luke was seeing to the raising of the great mast. This was set up near the southeastern tower, being put into a deep hole dug into the ground, and then made firm by poles driven in to wedge it tight. The beam having been already put over the spike upon the top of the mast it required the combined strength of many men to raise the mast and drop its end into the hole; but by means of a long rope manned by fifty or sixty of the besiegers, this was accomplished, though the garrison, seeing something of what was going forward, kept up a heavy fire upon the workers, and a number of them were struck down.

When the mast had been made firm, the crate, hanging at the end of the chains, was pulled down until it rested upon the ground. Then six or eight strong axmen entered the crate, and by pulling upon a rope attached to the other end of the beam they were raised high in air, and brought upon a level with the door of the tower that formerly opened upon the rampart of the wall that had been blown up by the Friar's mine. No sooner were these axmen swung around against this door than