up. John Deane and two other
lieutenants accompanied their captain. They, rushing forward as British
seamen always will do when led by their officers, took possession of the
fort with great bravery, but not without sustaining a considerable loss.
As they, with swords and pistols in their hands, were rushing on,
suddenly a fearful noise was heard. The earth seemed to lift up beneath
their feet, and forty men and two lieutenants were carried up, fearfully
burned and shattered. The survivors, among whom was John Deane,
undaunted by this disaster, fought their way on and took possession of
the grand platform, where they remained until reinforced by a body of
seamen who had come in the boats under Captain Whitaker. The whole body
then advanced and took a redoubt half-way between the Mole and the town,
possessing themselves also of many of the enemy's cannon. The admiral
then sent in a letter to the governor, and at the same time a message to
the Prince of Hesse, directing him to send a peremptory summons, which
His Highness accordingly did.

While this was taking place, John Deane, who had previously surveyed the
rock, got leave from Captain Juniper to lead a body of men up a part of
the cliff which the Spaniards had never thought it possible any human
beings could climb. Deane, however, had often scrambled over the nearly
perpendicular rock on which Nottingham Castle stands, and up its old
rugged towers which yet remain. He had no lack of volunteers, with two
or three midshipmen, ready to accompany him. Stealing away unperceived
by the enemy, they got to the foot of the cliff. With their pistols in
their belts and swords between their teeth they commenced the perilous
ascent. Many who saw them thought they would never succeed, but they
had resolved to persevere. Slowly but surely they proceeded up, hanging
on by each craggy projection, aided by the shrubs which here and there
grew from between the crevices of the rock. At length, when one after
the other they reached the summit, they saw before them a chapel filled
with women, with a vast number of others coming in and going out of it.
These poor creatures had come out of the town, prompted by their
superstitious notions, to implore the protection of the Virgin, to whom
the chapel was dedicated. Jack and his followers, springing forward,
threw themselves between the chapel and the road which led to the town.
By gestures more than by words, he endeavoured to per