am as a
false knight and a disgrace to his class, and warned all those within
the castle to abstain from giving him aid or countenance, but to submit
themselves to the earl, Sir Walter of Evesham, the representative of
King Richard.

The reply to the summons was a burst of taunting laughter from the walls;
and scarcely had the herald withdrawn, than a flight of arrows showed
that the besieged were perfectly ready for the fray.

Indeed, the baron had not been idle. Already the dispute between himself
and the earl had come to such a point that it was certain that sooner or
later open hostilities would break out.

He had therefore been for some time quietly accumulating a large store
of provisions and munitions of war, and strengthening the castle in
every way.

The moat had been cleaned out, and filled to the brim with water. Great
quantities of heavy stones had been accumulated on the most exposed
points of the walls, in readiness to hurl upon any who might try to
climb. Huge sheaves of arrows and piles of crossbow bolts, were in
readiness, and in all, save the number of men, Wortham had for weeks been
prepared for the siege.

On the day when the attempt to carry off the earl's daughter had failed,
the baron, seeing that his bold stroke to obtain a hostage which would
have enabled him to make his own terms with the earl, had been thwarted,
knew that the struggle was inevitable.

Fleet messengers had been sent in all directions. To Gloucester and
Hereford, Stafford, and even Oxford, men had ridden, with letters to the
baron's friends, beseeching them to march to his assistance.

"I can," he said, "defend my hold for weeks. But it is only by aid
from without that I can finally hope to break the power of this
braggart earl."

Many of those to whom he addressed his call had speedily complied with
his demand, while those at a distance might be expected to reply later to
the appeal.

There were many among the barons who considered the mildness of the Earl
of Evesham towards the Saxons in his district to be a mistake, and who,
although not actually approving of the tyranny and brutality of the Baron
of Wortham, yet looked upon his cause to some extent as their own.

The Castle of Wortham stood upon ground but very slightly elevated above
the surrounding country. A deep and wide moat ran round it, and this
could, by diverting a rivulet, be filled at will.

From the edge of the moat the walls rose high, and with str