Upon the city wall at this point was a small turret, and on this were five figures.

The wall around was deserted, and for the moment these men were masters of the position.
"Seize those insolent varlets!" the baron shouted, shaking his sword with a gesture of fury at them.
His words, however, were arrested, for at the moment another arrow struck him in the throat, and he fell back into the arms of those around him.
Quickly now the arrows of the English archers flew into the courtyard.
The confusion which reigned there was indescribable.

The citizens with shouts of alarm took to their heels.

The men-at-arms were powerless against this rain of missiles, and the knights, hastily closing their visors, shouted contradictory orders, which no one obeyed.
In the confusion no one noticed the prisoner.

Seizing a moment when the attention of all was fixed upon the wall, he leaped from the platform, and making his way unnoticed through the excited crowd of men-at-arms, darted down a narrow lane that divided the castle from the wall.