Behind came a stream of howling
archers and men-at-arms, like a flood which has broken its dam.
Down they slipped into the ditch, rushed across it, and clambered
on each other's backs up the opposite side. Nigel, Raoul and two
archers gained a foothold in front of the burning gate at the same
moment. With blows and kicks they burst it to pieces, and dashed
with a yell of triumph through the dark archway beyond. For a
moment they thought with mad rapture that the castle was carried.
A dark tunnel lay before them, down which they rushed. But alas!
at the farther end it was blocked by a second gateway as strong as
that which had been burned. In vain they beat upon it with their
swords and axes. On each side the tunnel was pierced with slits,
and the crossbow bolts discharged at only a few yards' distance
crashed through armor as if it were cloth and laid man after man
upon the stones. They raged and leaped before the great
iron-clamped barrier, but the wall itself was as easy to tear
down.
It was bitter to draw back; but it was madness to remain. Nigel
looked round and saw that half his men were down. At the same
moment Raoul sank with a gasp at his feet, a bolt driven to its
socket through the links of the camail which guarded his neck.
Some of the archers, seeing that certain death awaited them, were
already running back to escape from the fatal passage.
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