On one side of the besiegers a breach to scale, a barricade to carry, three rooms in succession, one above the other, to be taken by main force, two spiral staircases to be climbed, step by step, under a shower of bullets; the besieged meanwhile standing face to face with death. [Illustration 110] VII. PRELIMINARIES. [Illustration 111] Gauvain on his side was preparing for the attack. He had given his last instructions to Cimourdain, who, it will be remembered, was to guard the plateau, taking no part in the action, as well as to Guéchamp, who with the main body of the army was to be stationed in the forest camp. It was agreed that neither the lower battery of the wood nor the higher one of the plateau was to fire, unless a sortie or an attempt to escape were made. Gauvain reserved for himself the command of the storming column, and this it was that troubled Cimourdain. The sun had just set. A tower in the open country is like a ship in mid-ocean, and must be attacked in the same way. It is more like boarding than assaulting. Cannon is of no avail, for of what use would it be to cannonade walls fifteen feet thick? A port-hole through which men struggle to force a way, while others defend the entrance with axes, knives, pistols, fists, and teeth,--this was the kind of combat that might be expected, and Gauvain knew that by no other means could the Tourgue be taken. Nothing can be more deadly than an attack where the combatants can look into one another's eyes. He was familiar with the formidable interior of the tower, having lived there as a child. He stood wrapped in deep thought. A few paces from him, his lieutenant, Guéchamp, with a spy-glass in his hand, was scanning the horizon in the direction of Parigné. Suddenly he cried,-- "Ah! At last!" This exclamation roused Gauvain from his reverie. "What is it, Guéchamp?" "The ladder is coming, commander." "The escape-ladder?" "Yes." "Is it possible that it has not arrived till now?" "No, commander; and I felt anxious about it. The courier whom I sent to Javené returned." "I am aware of that." "He reported that he had found in a carpenter-shop at Javené a ladder of the required dimensions, that he had taken possession of it, and having had it put on a wagon, demanded an escort of twelve horsemen; that he had waited to see them set out for Parigné,--the wagon, the escort, and the ladder,--and had then started for home at full speed." "And reported the same to us, adding that the team was a good one and had started about two o'clock in the morning, and would therefore be here before sunset. Yes, I know all that. What else?" "Well, commander, the sun has just set and the wagon that is to bring the ladder has not yet arrived." "Is it possible? But we must begin the attack. The hour has come. If we are late, the besieged will think that we have retreated." "We can attack, commander." "But we must have the escape-ladder." "Certainly." "But we have not got it"