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continued to shout, "Spare all who throw down their arms," his orders were

of no avail, for the Welsh continued to fight desperately until the last

fell under the Saxon swords, most of the women, who fought with even

greater fury than the men, sharing their fate. As soon as the struggle was

over Wulf ordered Osgod to take eight or ten men, to find the entrance to

the tunnel leading down to the road on the face of the cliff, and to guard

it against any attack from without. Then, through his interpreters, he

called to the Welshmen on the walls that their lives should be spared if

they would lay down their arms. He was answered by derisive shouts and a

shower of javelins.

"We should lose a good many men in storming those two narrow staircases,

Beorn. There are but twenty or thirty of them, but that is enough to defend

such steep approaches. Let us take twenty men up to the top of the castle,

from there they can hurl javelins down at them, and they will soon see that

resistance is useless."

They ascended the stairs, but paused at the end of the room over the hall

which had been the scene of the conflict. An aged woman, whose dress showed

her high rank, was seated on a settle; beside her was a white-headed

harper, while two little children, a boy and a girl, stood at her knee and

looked fearlessly at the intruders.

Wulf despatched one of the men down to the hall to bring up the

interpreter. As soon as he arrived Wulf doffed his helmet and stepped

forward.

"Ask who this lady is and who are these children."

At a gesture from the old lady the harper answered:

"This is my mistress, Gweneth, the mother of Prince Llewellyn ap Rhys;

these are his children. In his name she bids you defiance. You have taken

his castle, but he will know how to avenge her and his children."

"I have no desire or intention of acting with any disrespect, still less of

injuring either your mistress or the children of Llewellyn," Wulf replied,

when this was translated to him. "My friend and I are Saxon thanes, who

have been forced to leave our homes and to embark on this war in order to

put a stop to the ravages committed across the border--the burning of towns

and villages, and the massacre of men, women, and children by your

countrymen. Llewellyn ap Rhys has brought this misfortune upon himself, and

did we render him motherless and childless, it would be but the fate that

he and his followers have inflicted upon many an Englishman. But we do not

make war upon women or children. Prisoners, of course, you must be, but be

assured of honourable treatment. None shall enter this room save with your

permission, and you can have your female attendants to serve you as usual."

While the interpreter was repeating his speech Wulf and Beorn left the

room, and with the men ascended to the top of the castle, where they were

joined by the interpreter, who addressed the Welsh on the walls. These

replied with shouts of defiance, and a volley of javelins was poured down

upon them. Three or four were struck, the rest, seeing that all hope was

gone, rapidly gathered in a body at the head of the staircase leading from

the wall.

"They are going to run down," Beorn exclaimed, and leaning over the parapet

shouted to the Saxons in the courtyard below to stand on their guard.

A minute later the Welsh rushed down, each intent on killing at least one

foe before he died. The Saxons' weapons and discipline were, however, too

much for them; but they fought until the last, not one of them throwing

down his weapon or asking for quarter.

"They are brave men. I would that we were not forced to slay them; but it

is their choosing and not ours, Beorn, and if they would but leave us alone

I am sure that nobody would wish to interfere with these wild countrymen."

"What is the next thing to be done, Wulf?"

"I should say let us turn all the women and children, save the old lady's

attendants, out of the castle, they would only be a trouble to us. Then we

must examine the store of provisions, plant sentries and cut away that

bridge, or, at any rate, cut away so much of it that a blow or two with an

axe will suffice to send it down. We must not forget to haul up our

ladders. Llewellyn and his men may be back at any moment. Let us go down

together to that turret we saw on the face of the rock"

Orders were at once given, and the women and children collected and told to

leave the castle. They were allowed to carry away with them some eight or

ten men who were found to be still living. They went for the most part in

silence, but some of the elder women poured out voluble curses on the

Saxons. Beorn and Wulf had already gone down to the turret. There was a

very strong gateway in the courtyard, beyond this a tunnel sloping steeply

down, eight feet high and four feet wide, had been cut in the solid rock.

Following it they emerged upon a platform, principally occupied by the

turret. The path led through a strong gateway under this on to the wooden

bridge. Here Osgod with his ten men had taken their station.

"The women and children and a few wounded will be coming down directly,

Osgod. As soon as they have passed do you set to work with your men and

pull up the planking of the bridge, all save a single plank; loosen that,

so that you can if necessary at once cast it down after the rest. If you

see the Welshmen pouring up the road, throw it over at once without waiting

for further orders, then close the gate and take your station in the

turret."

"We are all getting very hungry, master. We have eaten nothing this

morning, and fighting sharpens the appetite."

"I had forgotten all about it, Osgod. I will see that food is cooked at

once, and will send down a portion for you and your men, and some tankards

of whatever liquor we can find in the cellars. We are going to make an

examination of them at once."

Returning to the courtyard, they told off a body of men to search the

cellars and granaries, and were glad to find that there was an ample store

of grain to last for months, together with large quantities of ale and a

few casks of wine.

"So far all is well," Beorn said, "but would it not be prudent to send off

at once to Gurth, to let him know that though we are masters of the castle

at present, we may in a few hours be surrounded by a swarm of angry

Welshmen?"

"That certainly is most desirable," Wulf agreed. "The question is, who are

we to send? It would be a terribly dangerous enterprise. Even now there are

a score of men from the village watching our movements from the wood above.

At any rate we must wait until nightfall."

Four sentries were posted on the wall by which they had ascended, as after

making a circuit of the place, this was they agreed the only point at which

a surprise was possible, unless there existed some secret passage into the

castle. They had just finished their inspection of the walls, when there

was a shout from their look-out at the top of the castle.

"A great number of men are coming down the valley," he cried to the thanes

in the courtyard below, and they at once mounted to the battlements. A mile

away great numbers of men could be seen running at the top of their speed.

There was neither order nor formation. Among them were a few horsemen

riding in a knot together, and round these a number of the footmen were

running in a close mass; but by far the greater proportion straggled across

the valley, some being a considerable distance behind the rest.

"They are like a swarm of bees," Beorn said.

"Yes, and are just as angry. Of course, the news of what has happened here

was sent off to them at once, and has brought them back again. I trust that

it reached them before they came upon Oswald's party."

"They must have been on their return," Beorn said. "It was but two hours

ago that we won the castle. Had a swift messenger started the moment the

news reached the village, and had he known exactly the position where he

would find Llewellyn, he could not have taken the news to him and brought

them back here had they been some eight miles away. It must be farther than

that to the spot where we lost Oswald, and as the thanes would surely be

making their way either back to camp or eastward to the border, they must

have been many miles from here an hour since. We know that the Welsh levies

were summoned in the evening, and probably reached the spot where we were

deserted by the guide, before daybreak, and took up the search at once.

Therefore I think, Wulf, there can be no doubt that the messenger from here

must have met them as they were returning; but whether they had overtaken

and destroyed Oswald's command, or had failed in their search for them, we

cannot tell."

Wulf shook his head. "I fear the former is most likely. The Welsh here must

know every foot of their mountains, so that by scattering through the

valleys they could scarcely fail to come upon the traces of Oswald's

passage, and they would pursue him as hotly as wolves chase a deer. My only

hope is that Oswald may have established himself at daybreak this morning

in some strong position, and fortified himself there, in hopes that we

might rejoin him, and that Llewellyn had not begun the attack upon it when

the news reached him of the capture of his castle. How many, think you, are

there in that approaching throng?"

"Some four or five thousand I should say."

"Yes, quite five thousand, Beorn."

At the call of the watchmen the men had, of their own accord, all mounted

to the walls.

"We had better divide our commands," Beorn said. "Your force is double

mine. For the present I will undertake the defence of the rear walls if you

will take the front. Of course till an attack actually commences it will

not be necessary to keep more than a strong guard on duty."

"Certainly not," Wulf agreed. "The danger will be far greater at night than

by day, and we must give the men as much rest as possible. But I think that

you with your men and half of mine ought to take the command in front,

while I with the rest defend the rear."

"Not at all, Wulf, this is your affair altogether. I should never have

thought of trying to take the castle. It was your idea, and has been

carried out by you altogether. You are much fuller of plans than I am. I

will do my best to second you, but you must continue to be the head in the

matter."

"Very well, Beorn. I refuse to be considered in command, but we will

apportion our forces as you suggest. We will take care that at any rate the

Welsh shall not capture the castle as rapidly as we did, and so will put

four men always on duty at each of the gates in the interior walls, so that

if by any chance they manage to effect an entrance into one of the yards

they will be able to get no farther until our whole force can assemble to

oppose them."

CHAPTER XI.

THE SECRET PASSAGE.

Beorn called his men together and distributed them along the rear wall,

while Wulf made a fresh examination of the front. He had before noticed

that great piles of stone in blocks from fifty to a hundred pounds in

weight were piled along by the parapet, in readiness to hurl down upon any

foe attempting to ascend the road, while in the courtyard below was an

immense reserve of these missiles. He placed twenty of his men here, and

posted the other ten as sentries on the side walls, and then went down

through the passage to Osgod. The bridge was entirely demolished as he had

directed, with the exception of a single plank, which could be thrown over

in a moment. Osgod had closed the gate, and had fastened a rope from the

top of the turret to the plank, so that this could be hauled up, without

those engaged in the operation being exposed to missiles from the other

side of the chasm.

"One feels almost ashamed at being so safe," Osgod said, as Wulf joined him

on the turret. "It does not give one the chance of a fight."

"You have had one good fight to-day, Osgod, and can do without another. I

should be glad if we did not have to strike a blow till we see Gurth's

banner coming down the valley."

"We have done very well," Osgod agreed; "and I should be quite contented if

I had but come across that rascal who nearly smothered me in the bog."

"You need not bear malice against him, Osgod; for if he had not deserted us

and led Llewellyn's force away to the spot where he left us, we should not

be masters of the place as at present, and it would have been a terrible

business had we been obliged to take this stronghold by storm."

"That is true enough, master; except by hunger or by a surprise, such as we

carried out, I don't see how the place is to be taken if stoutly defended.

There is no reason why the Welsh should have been in such a hurry to

return, for they must know as well as we do that there is but little chance

of their getting in again. They have come to a halt now down there, and

half of them have thrown themselves on the ground like a pack of tired

hounds."

"I have no fear whatever of an open attack, Osgod. They can see for

themselves that the bridge is destroyed, and I do not think they will dream

of coming up that road, which, as they know, we can sweep with stones from

above. If they attack openly at all, it will be by the wall we scaled. If

they make twenty ladders such as we had they may think they might gain a

footing, especially as their archers high among the trees would be able to

fire down on the defenders of the wall. But what I am really afraid of is

that there may be some secret passage."

"Do you think so?" Osgod said, startled. "Where could it come from?"

"Well, Osgod, you see they have cut this winding road up the rock and have

made the tunnel hence to the courtyard, so the chiefs have had abundance of

labour at their disposal. They would naturally wish to provide a means of