e in a minute," he panted out. "They are just behind."

The noise had already roused the ten men who slept in the building; five
of these were Mr. Cartwright's workmen, the other five were soldiers.
Hastily they threw on their clothes and seized their arms; but they were
scarcely ready when a roar of musketry was heard, mingled with a clatter
of falling glass, nearly every pane in the lower windows being smashed
by the discharge of slugs, buckshot and bullets.

This was followed by the thundering noise of a score of sledge hammers
at the principal entrance and the side doors. Mr. Cartwright and one of
his workmen ran to the bell rope, and in a moment its iron tongue was
clanging out its summons for assistance to the country round. A roar of
fury broke from the Luddites; many of them fired at the bell in hopes
of cutting the rope, and the men plied their hammers more furiously
than before. But the doors were tremendously strong and were backed with
plates of iron.

The defenders were not idle; all had their allotted places at the
windows, and from these a steady return was kept up in answer to the
scattering fire without. Ned had caught up the gun which Mr. Cartwright
had laid down when he ran to the bell rope, and with it he kept up a
steady fire at the dark figures below.

There was a shout of "Bring up Enoch!" This was a name given to the
exceedingly heavy hammers at that time used in the Yorkshire smithies.
They were manufactured by the firm of Enoch & James Taylor, of Marsden,
and were popularly known among the men by the name of their maker. A
powerful smith now advanced with one of these heavy weapons and began to
pound at the door, which, heavy as it was, shook under his blows.

Ned, regardless of the fire of the Luddites, leaned far out of the
window so as to be able to aim down at the group round the door, and
fired. The gun was loaded with a heavy charge of buckshot. He heard a
hoarse shout of pain and rage, and the hammer dropped to the ground.
Another man caught up the hammer and the thundering din recommenced.

Mr. Cartwright had now joined Ned, leaving his workmen to continue to
pull the bell rope.

"You had better come down, Sankey. The door must give way ere long; we
must make a stand there. If they once break in, it will soon be all up
with us."

Calling together three or four of the soldiers the manufacturer hurried
down to the door. They were none too soon. The panels had already been
splinte