midst of their camp.

"What are they doing now, think ye, Walter?" asked my lady lightly. "Is
it possible that they look for so long a siege that they are beginning
to build houses for themselves? Truly they are wise, for if my Lord of
Salisbury means to stay there until I open my gates to him, he will grow
weary of braving these harsh East winds in no better shelter than a
tent."

But for once Walter Brand had no answering smile to give her.

"I fear me 'tis a sow that they are making," he said, "and if that be so
we had need to look to our arms."

"A sow," repeated the Countess in graver tones. "I have oft heard of
such machines, but I never saw one. Thy words hint of danger, Walter. Is
a sow then so deadly that our walls cannot resist its onslaught?"

"It is deadly because it brings the enemy nearer us, my lady," answered
Walter. "Hitherto our walls have been our shelter; without them we could
not stand a moment, for we are outnumbered by the English a score of
times over. These sows, as men name them, are great wooden buildings,
which can hold at least forty men inside, and with a platform above
where other thirty can stand. They be mounted on two great wheels, and
can be run close up to the walls, and as they are oft as high as a
house, 'twill be an easy matter for the men who stand on the platform to
set up ladders and scale our walls, and after that what chance will
there be for our poor handful of men? 'Tis not for myself I fear," he
went on, "nor yet for the men. We are soldiers and we can face death;
but if thou wouldst not fall into the hands of this English Earl, my
lady, I would advise that thou, and Marian, and little Mistress Marjory
and Mistress Jean, should set out in the boat the first dark night, when
it is calm. 'Tis but ten miles to the Bass, and thou couldst aye find
shelter there."

Thus spake honest Walter, who was, as I have said, ever timorous where
my lady was concerned; but at his words she shook her head.

"And leave the Castle, Walter?" she said. "That will I never do till I
open its doors to my own true lord. As for this English Earl and his
sows--tush! I care not for them. If they have wood we have rock, my lad,
and I warrant 'twill be a right strong sow that will stand upright after
a lump of Dunbar rock comes crashing down on its back; so keep up thy
courage, and get out the picks and crowbars. If they build sows by day,
we can quarry stones by night."

So saying, my lady shoo