dropped the great beam upon the cat—had been destroyed.
This delay gave the besieged garrison time to breathe, and Hugh improved the time by completing the new wall across the courtyard, and by digging the mines under the walls he meant to destroy. The Friar had made up his mind to intrust the secret of his black powder to Hugh, and the two worked during their spare time in making four or five kegs of this compound—which consisted of charcoal, sulphur, and saltpeter, mixed in certain proportions. After a day spent in the Friar's laboratory, Hugh would come out looking like a blackamoor, and it was not strange that some of the soldiers belonging to the garrison shook their heads when they saw him—wondering whether he and the Franciscan Friar were not engaged in the Black Art. These men talked among themselves, at first cautiously, and afterward more openly, saying that they would have nothing to do with enchanters. But before any serious trouble arose, Hugh and the Friar had done with their powder-making, and so the grumbling gradually died away—especially as one of Hugh's old companions, having heard some of the talk, threatened to break the head of anyone he heard accusing his comrade of unholy practices.
During the weeks of the siege the Lady Amabel,
