men--mostly Cornishmen and Irish--as remained with him, threw himself
into Elizabeth Castle; the other forts, S. Aubin and Mont Orgueil,
yielded, almost without show of resistance, in a few days.

In anticipation of such an occasion Carteret had furnished the Castle of
S. Helier with abundant provision, alike of victuals and ammunition; the
latter being stored in the old Abbey Church, which was proof against the
bullets used by the ordinary artillery of those days. His guns were
mounted on the landward batteries, so as to command the town and any
camp that might be formed there for siege purposes. The hill above--the
Mont de la Ville--was too remote to cause any serious danger from the
field-pieces of the period, which were not capable of sending shot with
effect to a greater distance than half-a-mile. He despatched boats to
convey his private property to France, and to take letters to the
Royalists there, asking for instructions and assistance; and then
stoutly prepared--with a garrison of 350 men--to sustain the siege
against the grim victors of Tredagh.

Le Gallais, having lost his men in the late dispersal of the militia,
felt no scruple in seeking his friend Lempriere. The latter, after a
warm greeting, brought him to Prynne; and all three presently repaired
to the head-quarters, in La Motte-street, where they were amicably
received by Colonel Haine, the commander of the English forces.

Haine was one of those rapidly-formed soldiers, who had been thrown
up and hardened by the war in England ten years before. He listened
with due attention to what Le Gallais had to say about the
Lieutenant-Governor's resources and probable intentions.

"And who is this youth that hath such knowledge of affairs?" he asked,