The rebel ranks were set in motion, and, with matches lighted and pikeheads gleaming in the sunlight, they advanced to the attack, the pikemen in the centre and the musketeers on either flank. So intent were we on the oncoming danger that we almost failed to notice a solitary horseman riding furiously down the hill-side from the clump of trees, from which he had emerged. Spurring towards the deserted trenches, his horse cleared them at a single bound, and ere either we or the rebels could grasp the meaning of it, the rider was halfway across the intervening ground. "'Tis Firestone!" exclaimed Ralph and I simultaneously; and we were not mistaken. The musketeers had now opened fire on the daring rider, and the bullets whistled past him on all sides, some tearing up the turf under his horse's hoofs; but he seemed to bear a charmed life, and, untouched, he gained the edge of the moat. As he slipped from the saddle a bullet struck down his horse, but without hesitation the colonel jumped into the moat, and was soon safely within the postern. It was no time for explanations, so, picking up a musket, he took his stand with us at the breach, and prepared to receive the shock of battle. We lay close for fear of the musketeers' fire, till the first line of pikemen, headed by Chaloner, gained the foot of the breach; then, pouring in a heavy discharge of muskets, we caused the line of pikes to waver. But by sheer dint of numbers they pressed on, shouting, "No quarter!" Pistol and musket shots still rang out, a thick smoke enshrouding both sides, but the brunt of the work was done by sword-cut and pike-thrust. Men shouted in anger, or shrieked in mortal pain, but still the slashing and hewing continued with unabated fury. For my part, carried away by the heat of the struggle, I was unconscious of what was taking place beyond my immediate front; but presently I found myself face to face with my arch-enemy, Chaloner. Doubtless his faith in his armour and the fear of Cromwell's threat had tamed his spirit of cowardice, for he fought bravely. Defending myself from his sweeping cuts, I succeeded in delivering some thrusts that, were it not for his steel plating, would have been mortal. At length I put in a thrust beneath his guard, and the blade struck home through the bars of his helmet. With a cry, he turned; but ere he could get clear my sword passed between the top of his back-plate and the unguarded part of his bended head. Had he carried his head erect this would have been impossible, but his cowardly instinct caused him to assume that posture, and 'twas his undoing. Before I could withdraw my blade I saw the butt of a musket descending upon my head, and, with a blinding red glare before my eyes, I lost consciousness. CHAPTER XV THE SECRET PASSAGE WHEN I came to, I found myself lying on the grass of the courtyard, with my friends Granville and Colonel Firestone kneeling by my side.