He struggled for a second ; then , feeling himself overpowered , ran back to the window . The girl had fallen against the wall in the embrasure of the window ; she was more than half insensible ; and when he tried to raise her in his arms , her body was limp and unresponsive . At the same moment the men who had forced the door against him laid hold upon him . The first he poinarded at a blow , and the others falling back for a second in some disorder , he profited by the chance , bestrode the window-sill , seized the cord in both hands , and let his body slip . The cord was knotted , which made it the easier to descend ; but so furious was Dick 's hurry , and so small his experience of such gymnastics , that he span round and round in mid-air like a criminal upon a gibbet , and now beat his head , and now bruised his hands , against the rugged stonework of the wall . The air roared in his ears ; he saw the stars overhead , and the reflected stars below him in the moat , whirling like dead leaves before the tempest . And then he lost hold , and fell , and soused head over ears into the icy water . When he came to the surface his hand encountered the rope , which , newly lightened of his weight , was swinging wildly to and fro . There was a red glow overhead , and looking up , he saw , by the light of several torches and a cresset full of burning coals , the battlements lined with faces . He saw the men 's eyes turning hither and thither in quest of him ; but he was too far below , the light reached him not , and they looked in vain . And now he perceived that the rope was considerably too long , and he began to struggle as well as he could towards the other side of the moat , still keeping his head above water . In this way he got much more than halfway over ; indeed the bank was almost within reach , before the rope began to draw him back by its own weight . Taking his courage in both hands , he left go and made a leap for the trailing sprays of willow that had already , that same evening , helped Sir Daniel 's messenger to land . He went down , rose again , sank a second time , and then his hand caught a branch , and with the speed of thought he had dragged himself into the thick of the tree and clung there , dripping and panting , and still half uncertain of his escape . But all this had not been done without a considerable splashing , which had so far indicated his position to the men along the battlements . Arrows and quarrels fell thick around him in the darkness , thick like driving hail ; and suddenly a torch was thrown down -- flared through the air in its swift passage -- stuck for a moment on the edge of the bank , where it burned high and lit up its whole surroundings like a bonfire -- and then , in a good hour for Dick , slipped off , plumped into the moat , and was instantly extinguished . It had served its purpose . The marksmen had had time to see the willow , and Dick ensconced among its boughs ; and though the lad instantly sprang higher up the bank , and ran for his life , he was yet not quick enough to escape a shot . An arrow struck him in the shoulder , another grazed his head . The pain of his wounds lent him wings ; and he had no sooner got upon the level than he took to his heels and ran straight before him in the dark , without a thought for the direction of his flight .
For a few steps missiles followed him , but these soon ceased ; and when at length he came to a halt and looked behind , he was already a good way from the Moat House , though he could still see the torches moving to and XXXXX along its battlements .
Daniel cresset escape evening fro left marksmen second stonework window-sill