Page 337 - A Knight of the White Cross

Turks rushed up the breach, and swarmed thickly up the ruined masonry
until, at its summit, they encountered the steel clad line of the defenders.

For hours the terrible struggle continued. As fast as the head of the Turkish
column broke and melted away against the obstacle they tried in vain to

penetrate, fresh reinforcements took the place of those who had fallen, and
in point of valour and devotion the Moslem showed himself a worthy
antagonist of the Christian. It was not only at the breach that the conflict

raged. At other points the Turks, well provided with ladders, fixed them
against the walls, and desperately strove to obtain a footing there. From the

breach clouds of dust rose from under the feet of the combatants, mingling
with the smoke of the cannon on the ramparts, the fort, and Turkish ships,
and at times entirely hid from the sight of the anxious spectators on the

walls of the town and fortress, and of the still more numerous throng of
Turks on St. Stephen's Hill, the terrible struggle that continued without a

moment's intermission.

The combatants now fought in comparative silence. The knights, exhausted

and worn out by their long efforts beneath the blazing sun, still showed an
unbroken front; but it was only occasionally that the battle cry of the Order

rose in the air, as a fresh body of assailants climbed up the corpse strewn
breach. The yell of the Moslems rose less frequently; they sacrificed their
lives as freely and devotedly as those who led the first onset had done; but

as the hours wore on, the assurance of victory died out, and a doubt as to
whether it was possible to break through the line of their terrible foes

gained ground. D'Aubusson himself, although, in spite of the remonstrances
of the knights, always in the thickest of the fray, was yet ever watchful, and
quickly perceived where the defenders were hotly pressed, and where

support was most needed. Gervaise fought by his side, so that, when
necessary, he could carry his orders to a little body of knights, drawn up in

reserve, and despatch them to any point where aid was needed. The cannon
still continued their fire on both sides. A fragment of one of the stone balls
from a basilisk struck off D'Aubusson's helmet. He selected another from

among the fallen knights, and resumed his place in the line. Still the contest
showed no signs of terminating. The Turkish galleys ever brought up

reinforcements, while the defenders grew fewer, and more exhausted.
During a momentary pause, while a fresh body of Turks were landing,