The wall was then strengthened against the inner line of fortification, and all night long a desperate conflict was maintained in the dark upon the narrow space between the two barriers.

Before daylight Kloet, who then, as always, had led his men in the moat desperate adventures, was carried into the town, wounded in five places, and with his leg almost severed at the thigh.

"'Tis the bravest man," said the enthusiastic Lord North, "that was ever heard of in the world."-- "He is but a boy," said Alexander Farnese, "but a commander of extraordinary capacity and valour." Early in the morning, when this mishap was known, an officer was sent to the camp of the besiegers to treat.

The soldiers received him with furious laughter, and denied him access to the general.

"Commander Kloet had waked from his nap at a wrong time," they said, "and the Prince of Parma was now sound asleep, in his turn." There was no possibility of commencing a negotiation.