There they waited. Soon a rustling sound was heard on the wall, and a
ball of thread was lowered, to which they fastened their rope ladder.
The ladder was then hoisted to the top of the tower and attached to the
end of a culverin which was levelled in an embrasure of the battlement.
Michel Frotet was the first to ascend, and after him came Charles
Anselin, La Blissais and the others. The night was dark and the wind
whistled; they had to climb slowly, to hold their daggers between their
teeth and feel for the rungs of the ladder with their hands and feet.
Suddenly (they were midway between the ground and the top), they felt
themselves going down; the rope had slipped. But they did not utter a
sound; they remained motionless. Their weight had caused the culverin to
tip forward; it stopped on the edge of the embrasure and they slowly
resumed their ascension and arrived one after another on the platform of
the tower.
The sleepy sentinels did not have time to give the alarm. The garrison
was either asleep or playing dice on the drums. A panic seized the
soldiers and they fled to the dungeon. The conspirators pursued them and
attacked them in the hallways, on the staircase, and in the rooms,
crushing them between the doors and slaughtering them mercilessly.
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