In anticipation of such an occasion Carteret had furnished the Castle of S. Helier with abundant provision, alike of victuals and ammunition; the latter being stored in the old Abbey Church, which was proof against the bullets used by the ordinary artillery of those days.  His guns were mounted on the landward batteries, so as to command the town and any camp that might be formed there for siege purposes.  The hill above—­the Mont de la Ville—­was too remote to cause any serious danger from the field-pieces of the period, which were not capable of sending shot with effect to a greater distance than half-a-mile.  He despatched boats to convey his private property to France, and to take letters to the Royalists there, asking for instructions and assistance; and then stoutly prepared—­with a garrison of 350 men—­to sustain the siege against the grim victors of Tredagh.

Le Gallais, having lost his men in the late dispersal of the militia, felt no scruple in seeking his friend Lempriere.  The latter, after a warm greeting, brought him to Prynne; and all three presently repaired to the head-quarters, in La Motte-street, where they were amicably received by Colonel Haine, the commander of the English forces.

Haine was one of those rapidly-formed soldiers, who had been thrown up and hardened by the war in England ten years before.  He listened with due attention to what Le Gallais had to say about the Lieutenant-Governor’s resources and probable intentions.

“And who is this youth that hath such knowledge of affairs?” he asked, turning to the Bailiff—­for as such was Lempriere now officially recognised.

“He is one, sir, that hath suffered for the cause; a Captain in our Militia, and my brother-in-law.”

Alain shot a glance of gratitude at Lempriere, while Haine, laying his hand upon his shoulder, said in a friendly tone; “I pray you, Captain, attend me as aide-de-camp until your company be reformed.”

Then calling for his horse, he led the party, swollen by the number of his staff, to the head of the causeway leading to the Castle, “If what I hear from Captain Le Gallais be correct,” he said to his Brigade-Major, “the Castle will not yield.  But send them a trumpet, and let them not have cause to say the officers of the Commonwealth are unacquainted with the usages of war.”

The trumpeter rode forward to summons the Castle, a white flag flying from the tube of his instrument.  Ere he could reach the gate, a gun boomed out from the Castle, a round shot whizzed over the heads of the summoners, and Haine roared at the top of his well-trained voice, “Come back; it is a sufficient answer.”

And so the fiery duet began—­the batteries of the Churchyard sounding daily in harmony with those of the Castle, whilst ever and anon a piece of greater calibre roared its bass from the Town-hill.