"It is likely that he will use the greater portion of his forces, and that he will not keep above fifty or sixty men, at the outside, in the castle.

When they sally out we will at first oppose a stout resistance to them in the wood, gradually falling back.

Then, at a given signal, all save twenty men shall retire hastily, and sweeping round, make for the castle.

Their absence will not be noticed, for in this thick wood it is difficult to tell whether twenty men or two hundred are opposing you among the bushes; and the twenty who remain must shoot thick and fast to make believe that their numbers are great, retiring sometimes, and leading the enemy on into the heart of the wood." "But supposing, Sir Cuthbert, that they should have closed the gates and lifted the drawbridge?
We could not gain entrance by storming, even if only twenty men held the walls, until long after the main body would have returned." Cuthbert thought for some time, and then said, "Cnut, you shall undertake this enterprise.

You shall fill a cart high with faggots, and in it shall conceal a dozen of your best men.