“Tiptop plan,” said Gordon, and Hamlin added:—
“Yes, and we’ll carry it out, too. Now, boys, remember—pitch in and carry the walls if you can, but keep your ears open for a whistle from Clark, and when you hear it, follow me to the center.”
Derisive hoots and yells from Griffin and his men greeted the approach of Hamlin and his party, but the latter went steadily on in silence. Not a shout or a cry answered the taunts of the defenders, and again the struggle was renewed, the boys scrambling up the walls, fighting their way inch by inch, only to be thrust and pushed back as they neared the top. Two did succeed in scrambling over the wall, but a dozen strong arms seized them, and promptly rolled them over the slippery barrier to the ground below.
In the midst of the struggle, a clear whistle sounded, and at the signal, Hamlin’s voice rang out calling his followers to retreat. They slipped down the walls and joined their leader, but instead of retreating as before, they instantly made a dash for the walls in the center.
Griffin shouted to his men, and all but two rushed to the threatened spot to repel the enemy. As they did so, the walls gave way, and more than half of the defenders rolled through the breach to the ground, while yells and shouts of a different sort announced their surprise and disgust at their unexpected descent.
The few who had not gone down in the slump, fought bravely, but they were quickly overpowered by numbers, as over the walls scrambled Hamlin and his men. It was their turn now to shout exultantly, as they seized and made prisoner every boy that they could catch. Griffin’s men looked rueful enough as they found themselves so cleverly trapped, and some were not only rueful, but bitterly angry.
“Where’s Griffin,” cried Hamlin.
“There he is. Catch him—catch him!” shouted Lee, pointing to a white figure just crawling out from under the mass of fallen snow.
“Surrender! Surrender!” shouted a score of voices, as the boys surrounded Griffin.
“Oh, well, of course we must surrender, since you’ve got possession of the fort; but you had to take it by trickery—not in fair fight,” Griffin said, sullenly.