walls."

"That is the most dangerous part of it," Philip said. "We ought to
have no difficulty in holding the three entrances. The posterns are
narrow, and forty men at each should be able to keep back a host;
and this would leave you a hundred and twenty to hold the main
gates. But if we have to man the walls, too, the matter would be
serious.

"If we had time, we might pull down one of the outbuildings and
build a thick wall behind the gates; but in an hour they will be
attacking us again."

He stood thinking for a minute or two, and then exclaimed:

"I have it, Francois. Let us at once kill a number of the cattle,
and pile their carcasses up, two deep, against the gates. They may
burn them down if they like, then, but they can do nothing against
that pile of flesh; the weight of the carcasses will keep them in a
solid mass. At any rate, we might do that at the two posterns. The
great gates are, perhaps, too wide and lofty; but if we formed a
barricade inside them of, say, three bodies high, a hundred men
ought to be able to defend it; and that will leave a hundred for
the walls and house."

"That is a capital idea, Philip. We will not lose a moment in
carrying it out."

Two of the principal tenants were called up, and told to see to the
slaughtering, instantly, of sufficient cattle to pile two deep
against the posterns. Calling a number of men together, these at
once set about the business.

"We will see to the other barricade ourselves, Philip. That is
where the fighting will be."

The entrance behind the gateway was some twenty-five feet in width,
and as much in depth, before it entered the courtyard. The bullocks
were brought up to the spot, and slaughtered there. The first line
were about to be dragged into place, when Philip suggested that
they should be skinned.

"What on earth do you want to skin them for, Philip?" Francois
asked.

"When they are arranged in a row, I would throw the skins over them
again, inside out. The weight of the next row will keep the skins
in their places, and it will be impossible for anyone to obtain a
footing on that slippery surface, especially if we pour some blood
over it."

Francois at once saw the point of the suggestion.

"Excellent, Philip. I wish my brain was as full of ideas as yours
is."

The same course was pursued with the other two tiers of carcasses,
the hides of the upper row being firmly pegged into the flesh, to
prevent their being pulled off. T