Here they were assailed by a shower of ill-directed stones, while from a few of the oyelets came an irregular discharge of arrows, shot so feebly that for the most part they failed to pass within a spear's length of the object of their intended mark.
A roar of derisive laughter burst from the lips of the seasoned veterans, as without a moment's hesitation they plunged into the waters of the moat. Unscathed, though the stones churned up the water all around them, the men swam to the opposite side, where, taking advantage of a narrow terraced ridge of rock at the base of the castle walls, they gained the shelter of the raised drawbridge.
Soon a coil of rope, weighted by an axe, was thrown deftly over one of the chains that supported the drawbridge full thirty feet above the ground.
"Up with thee, John o' Bosham," exclaimed the man who had been appointed the leader of the enterprise. "Thou wert a shipman ere thou wert man-at-arms. And thou, too, Peter of Gosport. Up with thee, I say."
With their axes thrust into their belts the two soldiers swarmed up the swaying rope, and agilely balancing themselves on the chain, they looked about for some means to sever the stout iron links. Being without files they soon realized that the task was beyond them.
"Try the woodwork, John!" shouted one of the men from below. "Yet take good heed when thou hast done thy work."
Blithely the twain set to with their axes, and amid a shower of splinters the chain-plate secured to the frame of the drawbridge was cut out, falling with a loud clang against the wall.
With that the two men-at-arms made their way astraddle of their lofty swaying perch, and having passed the rope through one of the links of the still-holding chain and secured themselves to it by their belts, they again fell to work. "Stand clear below," exclaimed Peter, as the woodwork creaked ominously.
The next moment the chain-plate was wrenched from its hold, and with a crash the heavy drawbridge fell, rebounding more than once ere it came to rest. Then amid the cheers of their comrades the two daring and by this time well-nigh exhausted men slid down the rope to the ground.
Meanwhile Geoffrey and the main body had not been idle. At great pains they had felled a young fir tree, and having stripped it of its branches, bore it to the edge of the moat.