enemy's works. Many sorties were made by the garrison, and fierce
fighting took place, but only a score or two of men from each company
were taken upon these occasions, and the boys were compelled to
remain inactive spectators of the fight.

In these sorties the Spanish works were frequently held for a few
minutes, gabions thrown down, and guns overturned, but after doing
as much damage as they could the assailants had to fall back again
to the town, being unable to resist the masses of pikemen brought
up against them. The boldness of these sorties, and the bravery
displayed by their English allies, greatly raised the spirits of
the townsfolk, who now organized themselves into companies, and
undertook the work of guarding the less exposed portion of the
wall, thus enabling the garrison to keep their whole strength at
the points attacked. The townsmen also laboured steadily in adding
to the defenses; and two companies of women were formed, under female
captains, who took the names of May in the Heart and Catherine the
Rose. These did good service by building a strong fort at one of
the threatened points, and this work was in their honour christened
Fort Venus.

"It is scarcely a compliment to Venus," Geoffrey laughed to his
brother. "These square shouldered and heavily built women do not
at all correspond with my idea of the goddess of love."

"They are strong enough for men," Lionel said. "I shouldn't like
one of those big fat arms to come down upon my head. No, they are
not pretty; but they look jolly and good tempered, and if they were
to fight as hard as they work they ought to do good service."