The Young Castellan Part 18

"Yes, mother; but he is a soldier."

"So are you now, Roy," said the dame, proudly. "And so must every man be who loves his king and country. Martlet is quite right, and I shall prepare your scarf and feathers with my own hands."

"Why, mother," cried the boy, wonderingly, "how you have changed since even a short time ago."

"So has our position, Roy, my son," she said, firmly. "Who's there?"

The butler entered.

"Benjamin Martlet would be glad, my lady, if Master Roy would come and give him his instructions, and, if you please, my lady, he wishes me to help."

"And you will, I am sure, Grey?"

"Oh, yes, my lady," said the man, eagerly; "but I was afraid your ladys.h.i.+p might be wanting something, and no one to answer the bell."

"I want my servants, Grey, to help me to protect their master's interests while he is forced to be away in the service of the king. Can I count upon that help?"

"Yes, my lady, to a man," cried the old servant, eagerly.

"I thought so," said Lady Royland, smiling proudly. "You will go, then, Roy, and see what Martlet is to do."

Roy was already at the door, and five minutes later he was standing in the gate-way with every man employed about the place, the three troopers being fast asleep, exhausted by their long journey down from town.

CHAPTER NINE.

PORTCULLIS AND BRIDGE.

As Roy appeared, there was a low buzz of voices, and directly after the butler cried, "Three cheers for the young master!" with a hearty result.

Just then Ben came close up to say, confidentially--

"I made it all comfortable with poor old Jenk, sir."

"That's right; and Sam Rogers?"

"Proud's a dog with two tails, sir. Now, sir, if you'll give the orders, we'll go up and see what can be done about making the place safe, and I'm afraid we're going to have a job."

Roy felt a slight sensation of shrinking, but he mastered it, and calling to the men to follow him, he turned in by the low arched door-way, and ascended to the first chamber of the gate tower, to pause where the great iron grating hung before him in its stone grooves formed in the wall, and with its spikes descending through the slit on the floor, below which the stone paving of the entrance could be seen.

To make sure of its not descending by any accident of the chains giving, three ma.s.sive pieces of squared oak had been thrust through as many of the openings at the bottom, so that the portcullis rested upon them as these crossed the long narrow slit through which it descended, and a little examination showed that if the chains were tightened by turning the two capstans by means of the bars, and the chains drawn a little over the great wheels fixed in the ceiling, it would be easy enough to withdraw the three supports and let the grating down.

"Chains look terribly rusty," said Roy. "Think they'll bear it, Ben?"

"They're rusty, sir, and a good deal eaten away; but they used to put good work into these sort o' things, because if they hadn't, they'd have come down and killed some one. Shall we try?"

"Yes; no one can be hurt if a watch is kept below. Go down, one of you, and see that no one pa.s.ses under."

One of the men ran down, the old capstan-bars were taken from the corners, and two men on each side inserted them into the holes, and waited for the order to tighten the chains round the rollers.

"Ready? All together!" cried Roy; and the men pulled the bars towards them with a will, the chains tightened, the pulleys creaked and groaned, and the grating rose an inch or two, sufficient for the pieces of oak crossing the narrow slit to have been drawn out, when _crack_--_crack_-- two of the bars the men handled snapped short off, and their holders fell, while the portcullis sank back to its old place with a heavy jar.

"Hundred years, perhaps, since they've been used," said Roy. "Any one hurt?"

"No, sir," said the men, laughing in spite of a bruise or two; and the bars being examined, it was found that the tough oak of which they were composed was completely honeycombed by worms, and powdered away to dust.

"First job, then, sir, to make new bars," said Ben, promptly.

"Yes; we'll have the carpenters in from the village directly, Ben. With these pulleys well greased, I suppose this will work."

"Ay, sir, no doubt about that; it's the drawbridge I'm afraid of," said Ben.

"Let's go up and see, then."

Roy led the way again, and the men followed into the dark chamber above, where the old furnace stood, and in the corners on either side of the narrow window, with its hollowed-out notches for firing or using cross-bows from, were two great round chimney-like constructions built in the stone, up and down which huge weights, which depended from ma.s.sive chains and pa.s.sed over great rollers, had formerly been used to glide.

Ben shook his head as he put his hand upon one of the weights, which were formed of so many discs of cast lead, through the centre of which the great chain pa.s.sed, a solid bar of iron being driven through a link below to keep them from sliding off.

The weights hung about breast-high; and at the slight pressure of the man's hand began to swing to and fro in the stone place open to the chamber, but closed below where they ran down in the wall at the sides of the gate-way.

"Well, these must have been worked by hand, Ben," said Roy. "Men must have stood here and run them down. Two of you go to the other side, and all press down together, but stand ready to jump back in case anything breaks. I don't see how you can be hurt if you do."

"No, sir; no one can't be hurt, for the weights will only go down these holes with a bang."

"Try, then. Now, all together--pull!"

The men tugged and strained, but there was no sign of yielding, and Ben shook his head.

"Rollers must be rusted, sir, and stick."

But upon his climbing up to examine them, it proved that these had not been made to turn, only for the chains to slide over them, as the grooves worn in the iron showed.

"Nothing to stop 'em here, sir," said the man.

"Then it must be set fast at the end of the bridge," said Roy; and, descending with the men, they crossed the moat and found the bridge completely wedged and fixed in the opening of stone which embraced the end.

Picks and crowbars were fetched, the stones and sand sc.r.a.ped out, and when the place was cleared they reascended to the furnace-chamber, when, upon another trial being made, it was found that the weights so accurately balanced the bridge that with very little exertion the chains came screeching and groaning over the iron rollers, and the men gave a cheer as the end rose up and up till it was drawn very nearly up to the face of the tower.

Ben rubbed his ear and grinned with satisfaction.

"Come, sir," he said, "we can make ourselves pretty safe that way; but I'm afraid the moat's so filled up that a man can wade across."

"That he can't," cried one of the gardeners. "I've plumbed it all over, and there aren't a place less nor seven or eight feet deep, without counting the mud."

"Then you've been fis.h.i.+ng!" thought Roy, but he did not say so, only gave orders for the bridge to be lowered again, and sent a man for a supply of grease to well lubricate the rollers and chains.

Down went the bridge, in a most unmusical way, and as soon as it was in its place once more, a man was sent across for the village carpenter to come with his tools, there being plenty of good seasoned oak-wood stored up in the buildings.