Sheathed in complete armour, and supporting with his right hand the
standard of his fathers, Tancred remained with his handful of warriors
like so many statues of steel, expecting some sort of attack from the
Grecian party which had occupied the lists, or from the numbers whom
the city gates began now to pour forth--soldiers some of them, and
others citizens, many of whom were arrayed as if for conflict. These
persons, alarmed by the various accounts which were given of the
combatants, and the progress of the fight, rushed towards the standard
of Prince Tancred, with the intention of beating it to the earth, and
dispersing the guards who owed it homage and defence. But if the reader
shall have happened to have ridden at any time through a pastoral
country, with a clog of a noble race following him, he must have
remarked, in the deference ultimately paid to the high-bred animal by
the shepherd's cur as he crosses the lonely glen, of which the latter
conceives himself the lord and guardian, something very similar to the
demeanour of the incensed Greeks, when they approached near to the
little band of Franks. At the first symptom of the intrusion of a
stranger, the dog of the shepherd starts from his slumbers, and rushes
towards the noble intruder with a clamorous declaration of war; but
when the diminution of distance between them shows to the aggressor the
size and strength of his opponent, he becomes like a cruiser, who, in a
chase, has, to his surprise and alarm, found two tier of guns opposed
to him instead of one. He halts--suspends his clamorous yelping, and,
in fine, ingloriously retreats to his master, with, all the
dishonourable marks of positively declining the combat.
It was in this manner that the troops of the noisy Greeks, with much
hallooing and many a boastful shout, hastened both from the town and
from the lists, with the apparent intention of sweeping from the field
the few companions of Tancred. As they advanced, however, within the
power of remarking the calm and regular order of those men who had
landed, and arranged themselves under this noble chieftain's banner,
their minds were altogether changed as to the resolution of instant
combat; their advance became an uncertain and staggering gait, their
heads were more frequently turned back to the point from which they
came, than towards the enemy; and their desire to provoke an instant
scuffle vanished totally, when there did not appear the least symptom
that their opponents cared about the matter.
It added to the extreme confidence with which the Latins kept their
ground, that they were receiving frequent, though small reinforcements
from their comrades, who were landing by detachments all along the
beach; and that, in the course of a short hour, their amount had been
raised, on horseback and foot, to a number, allowing for a few
casualties, not much less than that which set sail from Scutari.
Another reason why the Latins remained unassailed, was certainly the
indisposition of the two principal armed parties on shore to enter into
a quarrel with them. The guards of every kind, who were faithful to the
Emperor, more especially the Varangians, had their orders to remain
firm at their posts, some in the lists, and others at various places of
rendezvous in Constantinople, where their presence was necessary to
prevent the effects of the sudden insurrection which Alexius knew to be
meditated against him. These, therefore, made no hostile demonstration
towards the band of Latins, nor was it the purpose of the Emperor they
should do so.
On the other hand, the greater part of the Immortal Guards, and those
citizens who were prepared to play a part in the conspiracy, had been
impressed by the agents of the deceased Agelastes with the opinion,
that this band of Latins, commanded by Tancred, the relative of
Bohemond, had been despatched by the latter to their assistance. These
men, therefore, stood still, and made no attempt to guide or direct the
popular efforts of such as inclined to attack these unexpected
visitors; in which purpose, therefore, no very great party were united,
while the majority were willing enough to find an apology for remaining
quiet.
In the meantime, the Emperor, from his palace of Blacquernal, observed
what passed upon the straits, and beheld his navy from Lemnos totally
foiled in their attempt, by means of the Greek fire, to check, the
intended passage of Tancred and his men. He had no sooner seen the
leading ship of the squadron, begin to beacon the darkness with its own
fire, than the Emperor formed a secret resolution to disown the
unfortunate Admiral, and make peace with the Latins, if that should be
absolutely necessary, by sending them his head. He had hardly,
therefore, seen the flames burst forth, and the rest of the vessels
retreat from their moorings, than in his own mind, the doom of the
unfortunate Phraortes, for such was the name of the Admiral, was signed
and sealed.
Achilles Tatius, at the same instant, determining to keep a close eye
upon the Emperor at this important crisis, came precipitately into the
palace, with an appearance of great alarm.
"My Lord!---my Imperial Lord! I am unhappy to be the messenger of such
unlucky news; but the Latins have in great numbers succeeded in
crossing the strait from Scutari. The Lemnos squadron endeavoured to
stop them, as was last night determined upon in the Imperial Council of
War. By a heavy discharge of the Greek fire, one or two of the
crusaders' vessels were consumed, but by far the greater number of them
pushed on their course, burnt the leading ship of the unfortunate
Phraortes, and It is strongly reported he has himself perished, with
almost all his men. The rest have cut their cables, and abandoned the
defence of the passage of the Hellespont."
"And you, Achilles Tatius," said the Emperor, "with what purpose is it
that you now bring me this melancholy news, at a period so late, when I
cannot amend the consequences!"
"Under favour, most gracious Emperor," replied the conspirator, not
without colouring and stammering, "such was not my intention--I had
hoped to submit a plan, by which I might easily have prepared the way
for correcting this little error."
"Well, your plan, sir?" said the Emperor, dryly.
"With your sacred Majesty's leave," said the Acolyte, "I would myself
have undertaken instantly to lead against this Tancred and his Italians
the battle-axes of the faithful Varangian guard, who will make no more
account of the small number of Franks who have come ashore, than the
farmer holds of the hordes of rats and mice, and such like mischievous
vermin, who have harboured in his granaries."
"And what mean you," said the Emperor, "that I am to do, while my
Anglo-Saxons fight for my sake?"
"Your Majesty," replied Achilles, not exactly satisfied with the dry
and caustic manner in which the Emperor addressed him, "may put
yourself at the head of the Immortal cohorts of Constantinople; and I
am your security, that you may either perfect the victory over the
Latins, or at least redeem the most distant chance of a defeat, by
advancing at the head of this choice body of domestic troops, should
the day appear doubtful."
"You, yourself, Achilles Tatius," returned the Emperor, "have
repeatedly assured us, that these Immortals retain a perverse
attachment to our rebel Ursel. How is it, then, you would have us
intrust our defence to these bands, when we have engaged our valiant
Varangians in the proposed conflict with the flower of the western
army?--Did you think of this risk, Sir Follower?"
Achilles Tatius, much alarmed at an intimation indicative of his
purpose being known, answered, "That in his haste he had been more
anxious to recommend the plan which should expose his own person to the
greater danger, than that perhaps which was most attended with personal
safety to his Imperial Master."
"I thank you for so doing," said the Emperor; "you have anticipated my
wishes, though it is not in my power at present to follow the advice
you have given me. I would have been well contented, undoubtedly, had
these Latins measured their way over the strait again, as suggested by
last night's council; but since they have arrived, and stand embattled
on our shores, it is better that we pay them with money and with spoil,
than with the lives of our gallant subjects. We cannot, after all,
believe that they come with any serious intention of doing us injury;
it is but the insane desire of witnessing feats of battle and single
combat, which is to them the breath of their nostrils, that can have
impelled them to this partial countermarch. I impose upon you, Achilles
Tatius, combining the Protospathaire in the same commission with you,
the duty of riding up to yonder standard, and learning of their chief,
called the Prince Tancred, if he is there in person, the purpose of his
return, and the cause of his entering into debate with Phraortes and
the Lemnos squadron. If they send us any reasonable excuse, we shall
not be averse to receive it at their hands; for we have not made so
many sacrifices for the preservation of peace, to break forth into war,
if, after all, so great an evil can be avoided. Thou wilt receive,
therefore, with a candid and complacent mind, such apologies as they
may incline to bring forward; and, be assured, that the sight of this
puppet-show of a single combat, will be enough of itself to banish
every other consideration from the reflection of these giddy crusaders."
A knock was at this moment heard at the door of the Emperor's
apartment; and upon the word being given to enter, the Protospathaire
made his appearance. He was arrayed in a splendid suit of ancient Roman
fashioned armour. The want of a visor left his countenance entirely
visible; which, pale and anxious as it was, did not well become the
martial crest and dancing plume with which it was decorated. He
received the commission already mentioned with the less alacrity,
because the Acolyte was added to him as his colleague; for, as the
reader may have observed, these two officers were of separate factions
in the army, and on indifferent terms with each other. Neither did the
Acolyte consider his being united in commission with the
Protospathaire, as a mark either of the Emperor's confidence, or of his
own safety. He was, however, in the meantime, in the Blacquernal, where
the slaves of the interior made not the least hesitation, when ordered,
to execute any officer of the court. The two generals had, therefore,
no other alternative, than that which is allowed to two greyhounds who
are reluctantly coupled together. The hope of Achilles Tatius was, that
he might get safely through his mission to Tancred, after which he
thought the successful explosion of the conspiracy might take place and
have its course, either as a matter desired and countenanced by those
Latins, or passed over as a thing in which they took no interest on
either side.
By the parting order of the Emperor, they were to mount on horseback at
the sounding of the great Varangian trumpet, put themselves at the head
of those Anglo-Saxon guards in the court-yard of their barrack, and
await the Emperor's further orders.
There was something in this arrangement which pressed hard on the
conscience of Achilles Tatius, yet he was at a loss to justify his
apprehensions to himself, unless from a conscious feeling of his own
guilt, he felt, however, that in being detained, under pretence of an
honourable mission, at the head of the Varangians, he was deprived of
the liberty of disposing of himself, by which he had hoped to
communicate with the Caesar and Hereward, whom he reckoned upon as his
active accomplices, not knowing that the first was at this moment a
prisoner in the Blacquernal, where Alexius had arrested him in the
apartments of the Empress, and that the second was the most important
support of Comnenus during the whole of that eventful day.
When the gigantic trumpet of the Varangian guards sent forth its deep
signal through the city, the Protospathaire hurried Achilles along with
him to the rendezvous of the Varangians, and on the way said to him, in
an easy and indifferent tone, "As the Emperor is in the field in
person, you, his representative, or Follower, will of course transmit
no orders to the body guard, except such as shall receive their origin
from himself, so that you will consider your authority as this day
suspended."
"I regret," said Achilles, "that there should have seemed any cause for
such precautions; I had hoped my own truth and fidelity--but--I am
obsequious to his imperial pleasure in all things."
"Such are his orders," said the other officer, "and you know under what
penalty obedience is enforced."
"If I did not," said Achilles, "the composition of this body of guards
would remind me, since it comprehends not only great part of those
Varangians, who are the immediate defenders of the Emperor's throne,
but those slaves of the interior, who are the executioners of his
pleasure." To this the Protospathaire returned no answer, while the
more closely the Acolyte looked upon the guard which attended, to the
unusual number of nearly three thousand men, the more had he reason to
believe that he might esteem himself fortunate, if, by the intervention
of either the Caesar, Agelastes, or Hereward, he could pass to the
conspirators a signal to suspend the intended explosion, which seemed
to be provided against by the Emperor with unusual caution. He would
have given the full dream of empire, with which he had been for a short
time lulled to sleep, to have seen but a glimpse of the azure plume of
Nicephorus, the white mantle of the philosopher, or even a glimmer of
Hereward's battle-axe. No such objects could be seen anywhere, and not
a little was the faithless Follower displeased to see that whichever
way he turned his eyes, those of the Protospathaire, but especially of
the trusty domestic officers of the empire, seemed to follow and watch
their occupation.
Amidst the numerous soldiers whom he saw on all sides, his eye did not
recognise a single man with whom he could exchange a friendly or
confidential glance, and he stood in all that agony of terror, which is
rendered the more discomfiting, because the traitor is conscious that,
beset by various foes, his own fears are the most likely of all to
betray him. Internally, as the danger seemed to increase, and as his
alarmed imagination attempted to discern new reasons for it, he could
only conclude that either one of the three principal conspirators, or
at least some of the inferiors, had turned informers; and his doubt
was, whether he should not screen his own share of what had been
premeditated, by flinging himself at the feet of the Emperor, and
making a full confession. But still the fear of being premature in
having recourse to such base means of saving himself, joined to the
absence of the Emperor, united to keep within his lips a secret, which
concerned not only all his future fortunes, but life itself. He was in
the meantime, therefore, plunged as it were in a sea of trouble and
uncertainty, while the specks of land, which seemed to promise him
refuge, were distant, dimly seen, and extremely difficult of attainment.