CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
PREPARATIONS FOR A SIEGE.
Siege was now commenced, Ergles being to all intents and purposes animpregnable natural castle. Provisions and other necessaries werebrought up, and the force was divided into three watches, who regularlymounted guard in the chamber in front of the wall. But the whole of thenext day passed without a sound being heard, the enemy not attempting tobreak down their own side, for fear of getting into a trap, the utterstillness being interpreted to mean a _ruse_ to get them to make anopening through which an attack would be made.
Then another day was passed, and still all was quiet; but toward themiddle of the next those on guard in the chamber heard, and reported toMark, that they could hear the distant sound of stones rolling down, andMark went and listened so as to determine whether his father ought to beroused, for after a very long watch he had lain down upon a blanket tosleep.
"I wouldn't call un, Master Mark," said Dan. "He's tired enough.Watches twice to our once. Let the hounds come; we could account for'em if they tried to pull our wall down."
"Well, it would be plenty of time to awaken my father if they came andtried," said Mark. "Look here, then, we'll wait; and let it be inperfect silence, so that we may hear if they come as far as the otherside of the wall."
The men were as obedient to his orders as to those of Sir Edward, andthey all sat or lay about, with their weapons close to their hands,listening in the darkness, the calm and silence being good for thought;and before long Mark's brain was at work thinking about the state ofaffairs at the castle, to which he had been three times since the siegebegan, to see his sister and learn how Ralph Darley was progressing.
The news was always bad, Master Rayburn shaking his head and lookingvery serious.
"Bad hurts, Mark, boy," he said, "bad hurts. I hope, please God, he maybe spared; but I have my fears."
"Master Rayburn!" cried Mark wildly. "Oh! you must not--you shall notlet the brave fellow die."
"I'd give my poor old life to save his," said the old man sadly. "Wecan only wait and hope."
And as Mark sat in the dark natural chamber formed in the old limestonehill, he recalled Ralph's white, fire-scarred face, looking pale andunnaturally drawn, and wondered that he should feel so low-spiritedabout one who was an enemy and almost a stranger, till his musings wereinterrupted by a dull sound on the other side of the wall--a sound whichcame after the long period of utter silence which had succeeded to thenoise made by forcing out and rolling down stones.
No one else heard the faint sound, and setting it down to fancy, Markwas thinking again about the prisoners within, and wondering whattreatment they were receiving from the enemy.
It seemed hard enough for Sir Morton Darley, but Mark could not helpfeeling how terrible it must be for a delicately sensitive girl.
Then once more he heard that sound, which he felt sure could only becaused by a foot kicking against a stone.
Just then there was a faint rustling, a hand was laid upon his arm, andDummy whispered:
"Hear that, Master Mark?"
"Yes. Don't talk," whispered Mark, and the two lads, who were well uponthe alert, listened in perfect silence, till all at once there was afaint gleam of light, so feeble that it could hardly be distinguished,but there it was, close to the roof, and Mark was satisfied that it mustcome over the top of their defensive wall.
Then all was still for a minute or two, till the two mentally saw whatwas taking place--some one was passing his hands over the built-upstones, and trying whether one of them could be dislodged.
Then all was still again, and the light died out.
It was not till hours after that any further sound was heard, and thistime Sir Edward was awake and about, passing from the dark chamber wherethe sentries were on guard to the light outside, and back again.
Mark went with him, and Sir Edward had just happened to say in awhisper:
"All quiet enough now," when a voice, apparently close to his elbow,said hoarsely:
"No. I'm not going to walk into a trap."
There was a good deal in those few words, for to Mark, among otherthings, they meant that if the speaker was not going to walk into atrap, it was because he must have food enough to last him for some timelonger, and was not willing to lay down his arms.