wall, while archers upon the summit shot fast and thick among the defenders
who were gathering to oppose them.

"If the young Pembroke is wise," the king said, "he will make a strong
sally now and fall upon one or other of the parties."

As he spoke there was a sudden movement on the part of the assailants, who,
leaving the foot of the towers, made a rush at the outwork in the centre.
The instant they arrived they fell to work with axes upon the palisades.
Many were struck down by the blows dealt them by the defenders, but others
caught up the axes and in less than a minute several of the palisades were
cut down and the assailants poured in. The defenders fought gallantly, but
they were overpowered by numbers. Some were struck down, others taken
prisoners by main force, and the rest driven across the drawbridge, just as
the gates were opened and Pembroke, at the head of the defenders, swarmed
out to their assistance.

There was a desperate fight on the bridge, and it was well that the armour
was stout, and the arms that wielded the weapons had not yet attained their
full strength. Several were knocked off the bridge into the moat, and these
were, by the rules, obliged at once to retire and take no further part in
the contest. Walter and Ralph the smith, fought in front of their men, and
hard as Pembroke and his followers struggled, they could not drive them
back a foot. The court party were galled by the heavy fire of arrows kept
up by the apprentices along the side of the moat, and finding all his
efforts to regain the earth-work useless, Pembroke withdrew his forces into
the castle, and in spite of the efforts of the besiegers managed to close
the gates in their faces. The assailants, however, succeeded in severing
the chains of the drawbridge before it could be raised.