JOURNEYS IN DIVERSE PLACES 27 



The Emperor attacked the town with forty double can- 

 nons, and the powder was not spared day or night So soon 

 as M. de Guise saw the artillery set and pointed to make 

 a breach, he had the nearest houses pulled down and made 

 into ramparts, and the beams and joists were put end to 

 end, and between them faggots, earth, beds, and wool-packs ; 

 then they put above them other beams and joists as before. 

 And there was plenty of wood from the houses in the 

 suburbs; which had been razed to the ground, for fear the 

 enemy should get under cover of them, and make use of 

 the wood ; it did very well for repairing the breach. Every- 

 body was hard at work carrying earth to repair it, day and 

 night; MM. the princes, the seigneurs, and captains, lieuten- 

 ants, ensigns, were all carrying the basket, to set an example 

 to the soldiers and citizens to do the like, which they did; 

 even the ladies and girls, and those who had not baskets, 

 made use of cauldrons, panniers, sacks, sheets, and all such 

 things to carry the earth ; so that the enemy had no sooner 

 broken down the wall than they found behind it a yet 

 stronger rampart The wall having fallen, our men cried 

 out at those outside, " Fox, fox, fox," and they vented a 

 thousand insults against one another. M. de Guise forbade 

 any man on pain of death to speak with those outside, for 

 fear there should be some traitor who would betray what was 

 being done within the town. After this order, our men tied 

 live cats to the ends of their pikes, and put them over the 

 wall and cried with the cats, " Miaut, Miaut" 



Truly the Imperials were much enraged, having been 

 so long making a breach, at great loss, which was eighty 

 paces wide, that fifty men of their front rank should 

 enter in, only to find a rampart stronger than the wall 

 They threw themselves upon the poor cats, and shot them 

 with arquebuses as men shoot at the popinjay. 



Our men often ran out upon them, by order of M. de 

 Guise; a few days ago, our men had all made haste to 

 enrol themselves in sallying-parties, chiefly the young no- 

 bility, led by experienced captains; and indeed it was doing 

 them a great favour to let them issue from the town and run 

 upon the enemy. They went forth always an hundred or 

 six score men, well armed with cutlasses, arquebuses, 



