Requesting the colonel to throw me a length of rope, of which, fortunately, we had plenty, I bent the rest into the form of a large hook. To this I secured one end of the rope, then, leaning cautiously along one of the beams, I slowly lowered my improvised fishing tackle down into the interior of the church.
To my delight, none of the soldiers noticed the descent of the hook, owing possibly to the smoke, and by dint of careful manoeuvring I succeeded in hooking a large iron pot that, full of savoury stew, was boiling over a brisk fire.
The next instant, amid the shouts of the astonished and enraged rebels, pot and tripod were being rapidly drawn upwards; but ere I could secure my prize, a musket-shot pierced the bottom of the vessel, tearing a ragged hole. By the time I had unhooked the pot nearly the whole of the precious contents had escaped, but Colonel Firestone and I had the great satisfaction of breaking our fast by making a sorry meal from the sticky mixture that still adhered to the sides of the utensil.
Later on, though still in the early morning, we could discern large bodies of troops pouring into the town from the direction of Liskeard, and 'twas evident that the rebels had met with a reverse.
But we had no time to observe what was going on outside the town, for our own lives were in jeopardy.
Having cleared away the rubbish that obstructed the staircase, the musketeers, with fierce shouts, began the ascent.
"Stand to it," exclaimed Firestone, encouragingly, as a bullet whizzed close to my head. "Can we but hold our own for another five minutes, all will be well!"
"Shall we open fire on them?" I asked, making ready with the musket I had taken from the insensible man on the roof.
"Nay," replied the colonel. "Keep them in ignorance of the fact that we possess a weapon. Then, if the rebel Chaloner appears, I'll put a bullet through his traitorous head."
But the musketeers contented themselves by firing several volleys up through the floor of the belfry, which, however, as we took the same precaution as heretofore, did us no harm. After a while they went down again, leaving a soldier on guard.