Page:Tudor Jenks--The defense of the castle.djvu/98

74 "That will give us time for breakfast," he remarked; "three hours will be none too much to replace that bit of wood, work as fast as they may."

"You may go to the hall for breakfast if you like," Hugh answered. "Your shot has earned so much for you; but I shall keep them busy until you return, and then, while I eat, you can ply your weapon."

So one mangonel was kept at work, while the other remained ready to relieve it in turn. Having at last found the range, a rock was dropped near the besiegers' engineers often enough to keep them busy watching. But little more damage was inflicted on their mangonel, though it was several times struck by glancing blows, and a few of the operators were disabled by fragments of rock as they descended.

Luke the Lurdane, who was in command, was not satisfied with the results, and gave orders that a way into the forest should be made for the big machine, by cutting some of the trees along the road.

"There," said he, "we can fire from under cover. Here we are too fair a mark."

So while one body of men were busy in cutting out a new support to replace the one that had been cut in two, other soldiers felled those trees