A RESCUE.
WALTER Espec, albeit since leaving England he had enacted the part of
squire to two of the foremost earls in Christendom, was too much in need
of a protector not to accept Bisset's offer with gratitude; and the
English knight exercised his influence with such effect that both of
them 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, attracted
much notice, and won the reputation of being one of the handsomest
Englishmen who had ever appeared in the Syrian city.
Nevertheless, Walter was gloomy and despondent. All his enquiries after
Osbert, his lost brother, resulted in disappointment. Guy Muschamp he
regarded as one to be numbered with the dead; and Adeline de Brienne,
who since their unexpected meeting at Damietta, where in days of dismay
and danger they had conversed on equal terms, was now, as the
grand-daughter of a King of Jerusalem, treated as a princess, and moved
in too high a sphere to be approached by a simple squire. At first he
was astonished to find that they were separated by so wide a gulf, and
the Espec pride made him almost disdainful. Still, the fair demoiselle
was present in all his visions by day and his dreams by night; and while
consoling himself with building castles in the air when he was to reside
in baronial state with her as his 'lady and companion,' he was under the
necessity of contenting himself in the meantime with worshipping at a
distance, as an Indian pays homage to his star. Ere long, however,
fortune, which had ever been friendly to Walter, gave him an opportunity
of acquiring a new claim on Adeline's gratitude.
It was about St. John the Baptist's day, in the year 1251, and the King
of France, having undertaken an expedition against the Saracens, was at
Joppa, while the queen and the ladies of the Crusade remained at Acre,
which was garrisoned by a large body of infantry under the command of
the Constable of Jerusalem, and a small party of cavalry under Bisset,
whose courage and prowess still, in spite of his recklessness, made him
a favourite with the royal saint. No danger, however, appeared to
threaten the city. The citizens were occupying themselves as usual; and
some of the ladies had gone to walk in the gardens outside the gate,
when suddenly a body of Saracens, who had marched from Joppa, presented
themselves before the walls, and sent to inform the constable that if he
did not give them fifty thousand bezants by way of tribute, they would
destroy the gardens. The threat was alarming, but the constable replied
that he would give them nothing; and having sent a young knight of Genoa
to order them off, he left the city and marched to the mount, where was
the churchyard of St. Nicholas, to defend the gardens; while bowmen
posted 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 their
approach. Nevertheless, the Saracens continued to advance, and the
Christian magnates who had been walking in the squares came to the
battlements, and with anxiety on their faces watched the feats of arms
that were performed, and especially those wrought by the young knight of
Genoa.
Meanwhile Bisset and Walter Espec, while skirmishing with the Saracens,
skirted their lines and made a circuit of the garden with the object of
defending 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 that
was apprehended. Just as they approached their ears were hailed with
loud cries of 'Help! help!' and to their horror they perceived that ten
or twelve Saracens, well mounted, were issuing from the garden, one of
whom was forcibly carrying off a lady without regard to her screams or
her struggles.
'In the name of wonder!' said Bisset, staring in amaze, 'what is this I
see?'
'By Holy Katherine!' exclaimed Walter wildly, 'the pagan dogs are
carrying off a lady, and she is no other than Adeline de Brienne. To the
rescue, sir knight! to the rescue!'
'Hold,' cried Bisset, 'or you will ruin all. See you not that their
horses 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 of
the knight's admonition, he could hardly restrain his impetuosity as he
saw 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 his
cavalry at the gate to prevent further intrusions that, at the head of
half-a-dozen horsemen, he deliberately went in pursuit, and in such a
direction that the Saracens had no suspicions that they were pursued.
Indeed, they deemed themselves so secure that they gradually slackened
their pace, and at length halted while two of their number rode back to
ascertain 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,' says
Joinville, 'a Saracen suddenly moved by his courage came boldly up to
him, and said in his Saracenic tongue that if he pleased he would tilt
with 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 his
left hand eight or nine Saracens, who had halted there to see the event
of the tournament. The knight, therefore, instead of directing his
course towards the Saracen who had offered to tilt with him, made for
this troop, and, striking one of them with his lance, pierced his body
through 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 his
helmet with a battle-axe. In return, the knight struck the Saracen so
severely on the head that he made his turban fly off. Another Saracen
thought to give the knight a mortal blow with his Turkish blade, but he
twisted his body in such wise that it missed him, and the knight, by a
back-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 famous
actions did the Genoese knight perform in the presence of the constable,
and before all the principal persons of the town who were assembled on
the battlements.'
Nevertheless, the Saracens advanced with 'fierce faces threatening war,'
when suddenly a band of those military monks who at the cry of battle
armed 'with faith within and steel without,' and long white mantles over
their chain mail, spurred with lances erect from the Castle of St.
Katherine near the gate of St. Anthony, and, interposing between the
Saracens and the city, formed a barrier that seemed impenetrable. They
were the knights of the Order of St. Katherine of Mount Sinai, an Order
instituted in honour of that saint in 1063, and bearing on their snowy
mantles the instruments by which she suffered martyrdom--the half were
armed 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 satisfaction
of conquering, one of the warrior monks, who seemed very young, at a
signal from the marshal of the Order left his companions, and spurring
gallantly forward, with marvellous skill unhorsed two of the Saracens
without breaking his lance. On this, the leader of the Saracens,
perceiving that the knight was alone, rode forward to meet him; but the
youth charged him so fiercely that he was fain to retreat desperately
wounded, 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 known
as Passe-Poulain, where, shaded by foliage, were many beautiful springs
of water, with which the sugar-canes were irrigated. It was at
Passe-Poulain that the Saracens who carried off Adeline de Brienne
halted to await the report of their comrades, and, little thinking of
their 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 raised
his head and neighed; and the Saracens had scarcely ceased their
conversation and begun to listen, when, with loud shouts of 'Holy
cross!' Bisset and his riders emerged from the foliage and dashed in
amongst them. Resistance was vain, but the Saracens turned to bay, and a
bloody fray, in which Bisset's axe did terrible execution, was the
consequence. Only one attempted to escape,--he who had before him on his
saddle the almost lifeless form of Adeline de Brienne; and after him
Walter Espec, his sword drawn and his spur in his horse's flank, rode
with furious shouts.
[Illustration: "Be of good cheer, noble Demoiselle," said Walter, "you
are saved."--p. 220.]
It was a keen chase, both flyer and pursuer urging their steeds to the
utmost; 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 to
take the chance of an encounter. Fearful of hurting the damsel, but
perceiving that even this must be hazarded, Walter met him in full
course; and, exercising all his art in arms to elude a blow fiercely
aimed at him, he dealt one on the Saracen's turban, which stretched the
eastern warrior lifeless on the ground, and then leaping from his steed,
quick as thought caught the form of the half-fainting maiden just as she
was 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 springs
of water, and was gradually bringing her back to consciousness when
Bisset and his riders, having routed the other Saracens, came up in
doubt as to the issue of the chase. Having succeeded in restoring the
damsel, they placed her on Walter's steed, and, the squire leading her
rein, conducted her to Acre.
'On my faith, sir squire,' said Bisset with a smile of peculiar
significance, as Walter unbuckled his armour, 'I marvel at your good
fortune in regard to the noble demoiselle, and perceive that I was right
in saying that you had been born with luck on your side. A few more such
exploits, and you will be known to fame.'
'At all events, sir knight,' replied Walter, trying not to appear too
much elated, 'we can lay ourselves down to rest to-night with all the
better conscience that we have this day performed an action worthy of
minstrels' praise.'
'Marry,' exclaimed Bisset seriously, 'I look to deriving from this
adventure some benefit more substantial than a sound sleep or minstrels'
flattery; and, to speak truth, I am somewhat weary of this saint-king
and this purposeless Crusade, and would fain go to aid the Emperor of
Constantinople against the Greeks and the Turks; and Baldwin de
Courtenay could not but accord a favourable reception to warriors who
had saved his kinswoman from the Saracens. What thinkest thou of a
movement to Constantinople?'
Walter mused, but did not answer.