latter urged them to make haste and seize the favourable
interval, as armed men, with lighted torches, patrolled
the battlements every half-hour, and at that instant
they had just passed. The chiefs were instantly
at the foot of the wall. Phirouz let down a rope;
Bohemund attached to it a ladder of hides, which was
then raised by the Armenian, and held while the knights
mounted. A momentary fear came over the spirits
of the adventurers, and every one hesitated; at last
Bohemund, encouraged by Phirouz from above, ascended
a few steps on the ladder, and was followed by Godfrey,
Count Robert of Flanders, and a number of other knights.
As they advanced, others pressed forward, until their
weight became too great for the ladder, which, breaking,
precipitated about a dozen of them to the ground,
where they fell one upon the other, making a great
clatter with their heavy coats of mail. For a
moment they thought all was lost; but the wind made
so loud a howling, as it swept in fierce gusts through
the mountain gorges, and the Orontes, swollen by the
rain, rushed so noisily along, that the guards heard
nothing. The ladder was easily repaired, and
the knights ascended, two at a time, and reached the
platform in safety. When sixty of them had thus
ascended, the torch of the coming patrol was seen
to gleam at the angle of the wall. Hiding themselves
behind a buttress, they awaited his coming in breathless
silence. As soon as he arrived at arm’s
length, he was suddenly seized; and before he could
open his lips to raise an alarm, the silence of death
closed them up for ever. They next descended
rapidly the spiral staircase of the tower, and, opening
the portal, admitted the whole of their companions.
Raymond of Toulouse, who, cognizant of the whole plan,
had been left behind with the main body of the army,
heard at this instant the signal horn, which announced
that an entry had been effected, and advancing with
his legions, the town was attacked from within and
from without.
Imagination cannot conceive a scene more dreadful
than that presented by the devoted city of Antioch
on that night of horror. The Crusaders fought
with a blind fury, which fanaticism and suffering alike
incited. Men, women, and children were indiscriminately
slaughtered, till the streets ran in gore. Darkness
increased the destruction; for, when the morning dawned
the Crusaders found themselves with their swords at
the breasts of their fellow-soldiers, whom they had
mistaken to be foes. The Turkish commander fled,
first to the citadel, and, that becoming insecure,
to the mountains, whither he was pursued and slain,
and his gory head brought back to Antioch as a trophy.
At daylight the massacre ceased, and the Crusaders
gave themselves up to plunder.
Popular Delusions.
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ANGLING.
[Illustration: Letter G.]