Page 356 - A Knight of the White Cross

It was two o'clock before the fresh arrangements were completed and the
boats put out. They had gone but a short distance when the anxious

watchers in St. Nicholas learnt by the dull, confused sound that came across
the water, that the attack was, in spite of the failure of the plan to take the

bridge silently across, to be persevered in. A cannon was at once fired to
give notice to the other batteries to be in readiness, and as soon as the dark
mass of boats was made out the guns of the fort opened a destructive fire

upon them, and a moment later were seconded by those from the fortress;
these, however, were at present being fired almost at random, as the

Turkish boats could not be made out at that distance. Now that all need for
concealment was at an end, the Turkish war cry rose shrilly in the air, and
the boatmen bent to their oars. The great cannon at St. Anthony's Church

hurled their tremendous missiles at the tower, seconded by the fire of a
number of other pieces that had in the darkness been brought down almost

to the water's edge.

As before, the boats swept up to the foot of the breach, the Turks leaped

out, and, undismayed by the storm of shot, climbed up to the assault. The
short ladders that they had brought with them enabled them to surmount the

escarpments so laboriously made, and with loud shouts of "Allah!" they
flung themselves upon the defenders on the crest of the breach. Here they
were met by a line even more difficult to break through than before. The

knights were ranged three deep; those in the front were armed with swords
and battleaxes, while those in the other two lines thrust their spears out

between the swordsmen, covering them with a hedge of steel points. Others
in the rear brought up buckets of blazing pitch and Greek fire, and,
advancing through gaps left for the purpose, hurled the buckets down into

the struggling mass on the slope. There the fire not only carried death
among the assailants, but the lurid flames enabled the batteries to direct

their shot with terrible effect upon the breach, the crowded boats at its foot,
and the bridge which was, with immense labour, presently got into position.

It was not long before fresh light was thrown upon the scene, as the fire
ships, issuing out from the inner harbour, burst into columns of flame, and,

towed by boats, came into action. They were convoyed by the two galleys,
each with a full complement of knights, and these soon became engaged in