Page:Tudor Jenks--The defense of the castle.djvu/323

Rh over the brink. Down it went with a noise like thunder, and narrowly missing the Count, plunged into the mass of men that were at his heels. The cart loaded with stones must have weighed more than five hundred pounds, and it was irresistible. Men went down before it like pins in a game of bowls, and while the survivors were collecting their senses, a second cart came after the first, completing their rout and ruin.

The besiegers had seized the torches from sconces in the hall, and the light of these showed Hugh that the men posted at the door of the hall shared in the panic of the rest. Speaking in a low voice, he said: "Come!—let us make a sally!" He dashed forward, sword in hand, followed by Edgar and the young knight. Falling upon the sentinels, they drove them from the doorway, and then attacked the disorderly mass of men who had retreated from the stair.

Meanwhile, Lady Mortimer and Lady Amabel had fled by means of a winding stairway that, concealed by the hangings, led to the upper floors. When they met the men posted above, they urged them to attack the Count's disordered party by charging down upon them. As soon as a fair number could be collected, they rushed down the stair upon the men who were already shaken by the side attack, and after a few minutes drove