A passage being thus made for the mortar, it was dragged by a score of strong hands from the sconce, then down the side of the mound, and across the now levelled trench.
Thus much was accomplished without opposition. But the enemy were resolved to prevent the removal of the great engine.
A large party of musketeers rushed forward with shouts and attacked the successful Royalists, who returned their fire, and a sharp conflict ensued.
However, it did not last long. Aided by Captain Molineux Radcliffe from the walls of the castle, which were within musket-shot, Standish and Chisenhale were soon able to disperse the foe, and moved on as fast as they could with their prize towards the gateway.
Two other attempts were made to check their retreat, but were equally unsuccessful.
The victors were now joined by Bretergh and Walthew with the party from the battery first taken, and their force was sufficient to repel any attack. So they moved on tranquilly under the guns of the garrison.
They had good reason to be satisfied with the result of the sortie. Not only had they secured the grand prize for which they had come forth, but what was nearly as important, they had obtained a large supply of powder; so that they were now quite easy on that score.
In addition to all these things, snatched from the very teeth of the foe, they brought back with them a great number of muskets, three drums, and five prisoners—the latter captured at the battery from which the mortar was taken.
As the victors entered the gates they were welcomed by the guard with shouts and other demonstrations of delight, but this was nothing compared to the frantic enthusiasm manifested by the soldiers collected in the court-yard at the sight of the mortar.
They could scarcely believe that the terrible engine that had caused them so much alarm was standing before them. They struck it with their guns, they spurned it, they leaped upon it, they danced round it, and committed a hundred extravagances.
“Ah! monster,” cried one of them, who had jumped inside it, and tried to make it ring with the butt-end of his gun, “we have thee now, and will not let thee go.”
“Little did Rigby think when he had thee cast, in the hope that thou wouldst accomplish our destruction, that thou wouldst soon be turned against himself, and help to deliver us from him.”
This speech was received with loud cheers and laughter by all who heard it, and the mortar rang like an anvil with the blows dealt against it.
The officers did not attempt to check the exuberant delight of the men, for they were almost as much excited themselves.
The countess, who was in the court-yard with her daughters and her customary attendants, was enchanted by the spectacle. The shouts and demonstrations of the men delighted her. She felt that their confidence—if it had been at all shaken—was completely restored, and that henceforth all would go on well.
After watching the spectacle for a few minutes, she desired Major Farrington to bring before her Standish, Chisenhale, and the other officers, who had assisted in the glorious undertaking, and publicly thanked them for the great service they had rendered her.
“I do not hesitate to declare,” she said in a loud voice, that all might hear her words, “that by your bravery and gallantry you have rescued us all from a cruel foe. You have saved this ancient pile from destruction by fire, and all within its walls from death, for I would have perished rather than yield, and I know full well you would all have died with me!”
“We would!” responded a hundred voices.
Allowing these vociferations to subside, she again addressed the officers.
“Besides this mortar,” she said, “you have brought me, I am told, a good supply of powder, with several other prizes. These I will receive anon. Our first duty is to Heaven.”
She then proceeded to the chapel followed by all those who had just returned from the successful sortie.
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XXIV
How Colonel Holland promised to bring Reinforcements from Manchester