Then there was a cry of alarm, and in a moment they rushed forward among the enemy.

The men working the machine were instantly cut down, and Walter and his party fell upon the machine, cutting the ropes and smashing the wheels and pulleys and hewing away at the timber itself.

In a minute or two, however, they were attacked by the enemy, the officer in command having bade a hundred men lie down to sleep close behind the machine in case the garrison should attempt a sortie.

Walter called upon Ralph and four of the men-at-arms to stand beside him while the others continued their work of destruction.

The French came up in a tumultuous body, but, standing so far apart that they could wield their axes, the English dealt such destruction among their first assailants that these for a time recoiled.