54 The battle will be over before the enemy even knows we're there! And there will be little loss of life, ours, or, theirs."
55 Bold Dove looked at the map and shook his head. "I know you are great climbers," he argrued, "but I have seen that mountain. There is no way you can do what you say!"
56 "Lord," requested Swift Goat, "come with me, tomorrow, to one of our villages just a quarter-day's journey away, and I will prove to you we can climb such a mountain."
57 "Very well," agreed Bold Dove, "if you can prove to me such a climb is possible, I will accept your plan."
58 So it was the next day Bold Dove stood at the base of a huge mountain, looking up the almost sheer wall of its face.
59 "Lord," said Swift Goat, "we will start our climb now, reach the top, and before setting sun be standing here at your feet!"
60 "I mean no offense," answered Bold Dove, "but when I see, I will believe."
61 Swiftly the climbers departed. Using hand holds Bold Dove could not even see, they swiftly made their way upward, first one man in the lead, then another.
62 Sometimes they wedged their climbing hooks in cracks, or drove in metal spikes to attach their ropes, swung across open spaces, and continued upward.
63 Just before setting sun they reached the top, threw long ropes down to the ground, wrapped the ropes around them, and came flying down, landing before Bold Dove, who stood, wide mouthed.
64 "I must admit, in all honesty," confessed Swift Goat, "This is an easy climb. It's where we teach our children. But we can do the same thing at the fortress. I already have my men scouting the passage up. We can do it, Lord."
65 "That," cried Bold Dove, "is an easy climb? The mission is yours! I had doubts, but I do not now. I actually think you can do it."
66 It took several days to get everything ready, but one afternoon several hours before nightfall, Bold Dove stood with Swift Goat and watched his men making their way up the mountain. The leaders were already half-way to the top.
67 "I'd better get going now," said Swift Goat. "I will be looking for your signal at midnight."
68 "The Lords be with you," cried Bold Dove.
69 He watched the climbers until the last of them left the ground, and darkness hid their progress. Now, they could only wait. At midnight he would light three fires that those on the mountain would see, but the enemy could not.
70 He worried about those up there in the darkness. If anything went wrong, if the enemy discovered them before they reached the gates, they would not have a chance. They would be outnumbered ten to one, and there was no way he could get to them.
71 One of his men came up and tapped his shoulder. "Lord," he announced, "it's midnight."
72 On the mountain, Swift Goat's men waited.
73 They had not dared throw down their ropes so they had tied stones to them and slowly lowered them down the side of the mountain; four ropes on which everything depended.
74 If any of them snagged, if they miscalculated and the ropes were short, they would get a rude landing.
75 They saw the signal, and he whispered to his men, "Let them down the rest of the way."
76 When the ropes touched bottom he got in position and leaped off. It was not a pleasant feeling flying down the side of a mountain in pitch darkness, but finally he touched bottom. His sword made a 'clunk'. He rose quickly, looked around. The three men with him also froze.
77 There was no sentry. They jerked the ropes, and each counted the men that came down his rope. When the last four should have descended only three touched ground.
78 Swift Goat rushed over to the rope, pulled on it to judge the man's distance above, then went up it hand over hand. The man was about thirty feet off the ground. Hung up in the ropes he had spun around and struck his face on the wall. He had died instantly.
79 Swift Goat went back down the rope. "There's nothing we can do for him now," he whispered. "We'll get him down when it's over."
80 He gave the signal and they began to spread out. One by one the Trn sentries got a nasty surprise, as they were clubbed senseless and dragged off. The way to the gate was open. As they were headed in that direction Swift Goat tripped and fell with a loud crash. Everyone froze but there was no cry of alarm.
81 "Damn!" whispered Swift Goat, "I'm going to have to speak to their carpenter! That's an awful place for him to leave his wood and tools!"
82 The others stifled a laugh. They had to make their way by the main barracks, then they would be at the gate. As they edged by in the darkness something caught Swift Goat's eye.
83 "Good Lord!" he whispered. "Those doors are hinged on the outside! They open outward! Nine of you men come back with me. The rest of you take the gate."
84 Swift Goat hurried back to the timbers and tools. He found three timbers, six hammers, and six spikes. "Come on!" he whispered. Getting back to the doors he had three men hold the timbers while six others held the hammers and spikes ready on each end.
Page 156