Boy Crusaders: A Story of the Days of Louis IX.
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CHAPTER XXXIV.
A RESCUE.
WALTER Espec, albeit since leaving England he had enacted the part ofsquire to two of the foremost earls in Christendom, was too much in needof a protector not to accept Bisset's offer with gratitude; and theEnglish knight exercised his influence with such effect that both ofthem were soon provided with horses and raiment befitting their rank,and made a creditable figure among the Crusaders who thronged Acre.Indeed Walter, having now quite recovered from his illness, attractedmuch notice, and won the reputation of being one of the handsomestEnglishmen who had ever appeared in the Syrian city.
Nevertheless, Walter was gloomy and despondent. All his enquiries afterOsbert, his lost brother, resulted in disappointment. Guy Muschamp heregarded as one to be numbered with the dead; and Adeline de Brienne,who since their unexpected meeting at Damietta, where in days of dismayand danger they had conversed on equal terms, was now, as thegrand-daughter of a King of Jerusalem, treated as a princess, and movedin too high a sphere to be approached by a simple squire. At first hewas astonished to find that they were separated by so wide a gulf, andthe Espec pride made him almost disdainful. Still, the fair demoisellewas present in all his visions by day and his dreams by night; and whileconsoling himself with building castles in the air when he was to residein baronial state with her as his 'lady and companion,' he was under thenecessity of contenting himself in the meantime with worshipping at adistance, as an Indian pays homage to his star. Ere long, however,fortune, which had ever been friendly to Walter, gave him an opportunityof acquiring a new claim on Adeline's gratitude.
It was about St. John the Baptist's day, in the year 1251, and the Kingof France, having undertaken an expedition against the Saracens, was atJoppa, while the queen and the ladies of the Crusade remained at Acre,which was garrisoned by a large body of infantry under the command ofthe Constable of Jerusalem, and a small party of cavalry under Bisset,whose courage and prowess still, in spite of his recklessness, made hima favourite with the royal saint. No danger, however, appeared tothreaten the city. The citizens were occupying themselves as usual; andsome of the ladies had gone to walk in the gardens outside the gate,when suddenly a body of Saracens, who had marched from Joppa, presentedthemselves before the walls, and sent to inform the constable that if hedid not give them fifty thousand bezants by way of tribute, they woulddestroy the gardens. The threat was alarming, but the constable repliedthat he would give them nothing; and having sent a young knight of Genoato order them off, he left the city and marched to the mount, where wasthe churchyard of St. Nicholas, to defend the gardens; while bowmenposted between them and the town kept up a brisk discharge of arrows,and Bisset at the head of a band of horsemen, attended by Walter Espec,charged forward and skirmished with the Saracens so as to retard theirapproach. Nevertheless, the Saracens continued to advance, and theChristian magnates who had been walking in the squares came to thebattlements, and with anxiety on their faces watched the feats of armsthat were performed, and especially those wrought by the young knight ofGenoa.
Meanwhile Bisset and Walter Espec, while skirmishing with the Saracens,skirted their lines and made a circuit of the garden with the object ofdefending a gate by which it was feared an entrance might be effected.And in truth they found they had come too late to prevent the evil thatwas apprehended. Just as they approached their ears were hailed withloud cries of 'Help! help!' and to their horror they perceived that tenor twelve Saracens, well mounted, were issuing from the garden, one ofwhom was forcibly carrying off a lady without regard to her screams orher struggles.
'In the name of wonder!' said Bisset, staring in amaze, 'what is this Isee?'
'By Holy Katherine!' exclaimed Walter wildly, 'the pagan dogs arecarrying off a lady, and she is no other than Adeline de Brienne. To therescue, sir knight! to the rescue!'
'Hold,' cried Bisset, 'or you will ruin all. See you not that theirhorses are swifter than ours, and we must go cunningly to work?Patience, Walter, patience. We must make a circuit and intercept them,without their being aware that we are in pursuit.'
Walter's blood boiled; his head seemed about to turn; and, in spite ofthe knight's admonition, he could hardly restrain his impetuosity as hesaw the Saracens making off with their prize. Bisset, however, was calm,but, as usual, resolute; and it was not till he had posted part of hiscavalry at the gate to prevent further intrusions that, at the head ofhalf-a-dozen horsemen, he deliberately went in pursuit, and in such adirection that the Saracens had no suspicions that they were pursued.Indeed, they deemed themselves so secure that they gradually slackenedtheir pace, and at length halted while two of their number rode back toascertain the result of the combat that was taking place before Acre.
And what was the state of affairs before the city?
'As the Genoese knight was retiring with his body of infantry,' saysJoinville, 'a Saracen suddenly moved by his courage came boldly up tohim, and said in his Saracenic tongue that if he pleased he would tiltwith him. The knight answered with pride that he would receive him; but,when he was on the point of beginning his course, he perceived on hisleft hand eight or nine Saracens, who had halted there to see the eventof the tournament. The knight, therefore, instead of directing hiscourse towards the Saracen who had offered to tilt with him, made forthis troop, and, striking one of them with his lance, pierced his bodythrough and killed him on the spot. He then retreated to our men,pursued by the other Saracens, one of whom gave him a heavy blow on hishelmet with a battle-axe. In return, the knight struck the Saracen soseverely on the head that he made his turban fly off. Another Saracenthought to give the knight a mortal blow with his Turkish blade, but hetwisted his body in such wise that it missed him, and the knight, by aback-hand blow on the Saracen's arm, made his sword fall to the ground,and then made a good retreat with the infantry. These three famousactions did the Genoese knight perform in the presence of the constable,and before all the principal persons of the town who were assembled onthe battlements.'
Nevertheless, the Saracens advanced with 'fierce faces threatening war,'when suddenly a band of those military monks who at the cry of battlearmed 'with faith within and steel without,' and long white mantles overtheir chain mail, spurred with lances erect from the Castle of St.Katherine near the gate of St. Anthony, and, interposing between theSaracens and the city, formed a barrier that seemed impenetrable. Theywere the knights of the Order of St. Katherine of Mount Sinai, an Orderinstituted in honour of that saint in 1063, and bearing on their snowymantles the instruments by which she suffered martyrdom--the half werearmed with spikes and traversed by a sword stained with blood.
The Saracens halted in surprise at the sight of the Knights of St.Katherine, who were supposed at the time to be at the Castle of Kakhow;and, as if to provoke a conflict that they might have the satisfactionof conquering, one of the warrior monks, who seemed very young, at asignal from the marshal of the Order left his companions, and spurringgallantly forward, with marvellous skill unhorsed two of the Saracenswithout breaking his lance. On this, the leader of the Saracens,perceiving that the knight was alone, rode forward to meet him; but theyouth charged him so fiercely that he was fain to retreat desperatelywounded, and then returned leisurely to his comrades.
After some hesitation the Saracens withdrew, and the Knights of St.Katherine rode calmly back to their castle.
And now let us follow Bisset and Walter Espec.
About the distance of a league from Acre is a place which was then knownas Passe-Poulain, where, shaded by foliage, were many beautiful springsof water, with which the sugar-canes were irrigated. It was atPasse-Poulain that the Saracens who carried off Adeline de Briennehalted to await the report of their comrades, and, little thinking oftheir danger, dismounted to quench their thirst and rest their steeds;the Saracen who had charge of the damsel alone remaining on horseback,and tenaciously keeping hold of his prize.
Suddenly all of them started in surprise; for one of the horses raisedhis head and neighed; and the Saracens had scar
cely ceased theirconversation and begun to listen, when, with loud shouts of 'Holycross!' Bisset and his riders emerged from the foliage and dashed inamongst them. Resistance was vain, but the Saracens turned to bay, and abloody fray, in which Bisset's axe did terrible execution, was theconsequence. Only one attempted to escape,--he who had before him on hissaddle the almost lifeless form of Adeline de Brienne; and after himWalter Espec, his sword drawn and his spur in his horse's flank, rodewith furious shouts.
"Be of good cheer, noble Demoiselle," said Walter, "youare saved."--p. 220.]
It was a keen chase, both flyer and pursuer urging their steeds to theutmost; and under ordinary circumstances the Saracen would have escaped;but, hampered with his burden, and unable to exert his equestrian skill,he soon found that his pursuer was gaining on him rapidly, and turned totake the chance of an encounter. Fearful of hurting the damsel, butperceiving that even this must be hazarded, Walter met him in fullcourse; and, exercising all his art in arms to elude a blow fiercelyaimed at him, he dealt one on the Saracen's turban, which stretched theeastern warrior lifeless on the ground, and then leaping from his steed,quick as thought caught the form of the half-fainting maiden just as shewas falling.
'Be of good cheer, noble demoiselle,' said Walter. 'You are saved.'
But Adeline de Brienne did not reply. She had fainted; and Walter,taking her in his strong arms, bore her tenderly to one of the springsof water, and was gradually bringing her back to consciousness whenBisset and his riders, having routed the other Saracens, came up indoubt as to the issue of the chase. Having succeeded in restoring thedamsel, they placed her on Walter's steed, and, the squire leading herrein, conducted her to Acre.
'On my faith, sir squire,' said Bisset with a smile of peculiarsignificance, as Walter unbuckled his armour, 'I marvel at your goodfortune in regard to the noble demoiselle, and perceive that I was rightin saying that you had been born with luck on your side. A few more suchexploits, and you will be known to fame.'
'At all events, sir knight,' replied Walter, trying not to appear toomuch elated, 'we can lay ourselves down to rest to-night with all thebetter conscience that we have this day performed an action worthy ofminstrels' praise.'
'Marry,' exclaimed Bisset seriously, 'I look to deriving from thisadventure some benefit more substantial than a sound sleep or minstrels'flattery; and, to speak truth, I am somewhat weary of this saint-kingand this purposeless Crusade, and would fain go to aid the Emperor ofConstantinople against the Greeks and the Turks; and Baldwin deCourtenay could not but accord a favourable reception to warriors whohad saved his kinswoman from the Saracens. What thinkest thou of amovement to Constantinople?'
Walter mused, but did not answer.