Page:Tudor Jenks--The defense of the castle.djvu/71

Rh and upon these timbers projecting huts were made of heavy logs. These could be entered from the battlements, and enabled the defenders to obtain a better outlook and a wider range for their weapons. If these were destroyed, the battlements still remained behind, as strong as ever.

The butchers of the town were now invited to take up their residence in the castle, and they were busy from morning to night slaughtering cattle, skinning them, preserving the meat, and stowing it away. The younger villagers were trained in the use of pikes, and those who could shoot were enrolled as bowmen. Jackets of boiled leather or quilted woolen were provided for as many as possible, since the garrison of the castle was inferior to its needs and these men must serve as soldiers.

One morning it was announced to Edgar that a Franciscan friar was at the gate asking admission. Edgar ordered that he be brought in, and was at once struck with the man's intelligent expression and dignified bearing. To Edgar's inquiry what he wanted, the Friar said that he was an old scholar, who was in sore need, and begged an asylum in the castle. Edgar smiled at the old man's request, and pointing to the joiners who were at work upon the defenses of the stronghold, answered: