Here the wall approached the house much more closely than in the front,
and no one could mount it without being fully exposed to fire from the
upper windows. After his examination, Diggle returned with the two men,
whom from their appearance Desmond judged to be Frenchmen, to the main
body, and sent off half a dozen men toward the other end of the village.
While they were gone one of the Frenchmen seemed to Desmond to be
expostulating with Diggle: but the latter only laughed and waved his
gloved hand in the direction of the house.
The messengers soon returned, dragging with them three of the villagers.
These Diggle took aside separately and questioned: it was clear to
Desmond that he was ascertaining the strength of the garrison. Apparently
satisfied, he divided his force into three parts; the largest, consisting
of some forty men, remained at the edge of the grove; the two smaller
proceeded to the right and left of the back of the house. One was in
command of a Frenchman, but the Frenchman who had expostulated with
Diggle had apparently refused to have anything to do with the affair: he
held himself aloof, and by and by disappeared into the grove.
Diggle's evident intention was to weaken the garrison by forcing Desmond
to divide his already too small force. He had to detach eight of his
men--three to the windows and five to the wall--leaving only fourteen,
including Bulger and Toley, to meet the rush in front.
It was not long in coming.
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