Chapter Ten: On Board the Galley
Rosamund was led from the Hall of Steeple across the meadow down
to the quay at Steeple Creek, where a great boat waited--that of
which the brethren had found the impress in the mud. In this the
band embarked, placing their dead and wounded, with one or two
to tend them, in the fishing skiff that had belonged to her
father. This skiff having been made fast to the stern of the
boat, they pushed off, and in utter silence rowed down the creek
till they reached the tidal stream of the Blackwater, where they
turned their bow seawards. Through the thick night and the
falling snow slowly they felt their way along, sometimes rowing,
sometimes drifting, while the false palmer Nicholas steered them.
The journey proved dangerous, for they could scarcely see the
shore, although they kept as close to it as they dared
The end of it was that they grounded on a mud bank, and, do what
they would, could not thrust themselves free. Now hope rose in
the heart of Rosamund, who sat still as a statue in the middle of
the boat, the prince Hassan at her side and the armed men--twenty
or thirty of them--all about her. Perhaps, she thought, they
would remain fast there till daybreak, and be seen and rescued
when the brethren woke from their drugged sleep. But Hassan read
her mind, and said to her gently enough:
"Be not deceived, lady, for I must tell you that if the worst
comes to the worst, we shall place you in the little skiff and go
on, leaving the rest to take their chance."
As it happened, at the full tide they floated off the bank and
drifted with the ebb down towards the sea. At the first break of
dawn she looked up, and there, looming large in the mist, lay a
galley, anchored in the mouth of the river. Giving thanks to
Allah for their safe arrival, the band brought her aboard and led
her towards the cabin. On the poop stood a tall man, who was
commanding the sailors that they should get up the anchor. As she
came he advanced to her, bowing and saying:
"Lady Rosamund, thus you find me once more, who doubtless you
never thought to see again."
She looked at him in the faint light and her blood went cold. It
was the knight Lozelle.
"You here, Sir Hugh?" she gasped.
"Where you are, there I am," he answered, with a sneer upon his
coarse, handsome face. "Did I not swear that it should be so,
beauteous Rosamund, after your saintly cousin worsted me in the
fray?"
"You here?" she repeated, "you, a Christian knight, and in the
pay of Saladin!"
"In the pay of anyone who leads me to you, Rosamund." Then,
seeing the emir Hassan approach, he turned to give some orders to
the sailors, and she passed on to the cabin and in her agony fell
upon her knees.
When Rosamund rose from them she felt that the ship was moving,
and, desiring to look her last on Essex land, went out again upon
the poop, where Hassan and Sir Hugh placed themselves, one upon
either side of her. Then it was that she saw the tower of St.
Peter's-on-the-Wall and her cousins seated on horseback in front
of it, the light of the risen sun shining upon their mail. Also
she saw Wulf spur his horse into the sea, and faintly heard his
great cry of "Fear not! We follow, we follow!"
A thought came to her, and she sprang towards the bulwark; but
they were watching and held her, so that all that she could do
was to throw up her arms in token.
Now the wind caught the sail and the ship went forward swiftly,
so that soon she lost sight of them. Then in her grief and rage
Rosamund turned upon Sir Hugh Lozelle and beat him with bitter
words till he shrank before her.
"Coward and traitor!" she said. "So it was you who planned this,
knowing every secret of our home, where often you were a guest!
You who for Paynim gold have murdered my father, not daring to
show your face before his sword, but hanging like a thief upon
the coast, ready to receive what braver men had stolen. Oh! may
God avenge his blood and me on you, false knight--false to Him
and me and faith and honour--as avenge He will! Heard you not
what my kinsman called to me? 'We follow. We follow !' Yes, they
follow, and their swords--those swords you feared to look
on--shall yet pierce your heart and give up your soul to your
master Satan," and she paused, trembling with her righteous
wrath, while Hassan stared at her and muttered:
"By Allah, a princess indeed! So have I seen Salah-ed-din look in
his rage. Yes, and she has his very eyes."
But Sir Hugh answered in a thick voice.
"Let them follow--one or both. I fear them not and out there my
foot will not slip in the snow."
"Then I say that it shall slip in the sand or on a rock," she
answered, and turning, fled to the cabin and cast herself down
and wept till she thought that her heart would break.
Well might Rosamund weep whose beloved sire was slain, who was
torn from her home to fend herself in the power of a man she
hated. Yet there was hope for her. Hassan, Eastern trickster as
he might be, was her friend; and her uncle, Saladin, at least,
would never wish that she should be shamed. Most like he knew
nothing of this man Lozelle, except as one of those Christian
traitors who were ever ready to betray the Cross for gold. But
Saladin was far away and her home lay behind her, and her cousins
and lovers were eating out their hearts upon that fading shore.
And she--one woman alone--was on this ship with the evil man
Lozelle, who thus had kept his promise, and there were none save
Easterns to protect her, none save them--and God, Who had
permitted that such things should be.
The ship swayed, she grew sick and faint. Hassan brought her
food with his own hands, but she loathed it who only desired to
die. The day turned to night, the night turned to day again, and
always Hassan brought her food and strove to comfort her, till at
length she remembered no more.
Then came a long, long sleep, and in the sleep dreams of her
father standing with his face to the foe and sweeping them down
with his long sword as a sickle sweeps corn--of her father felled
by the pilgrim knave, dying upon the floor of his own house, and
saying "God will guard you. His will be done." Dreams of Godwin
and Wulf also fighting to save her, plighting their troths and
swearing their oaths, and between the dreams blackness.
Rosamund awoke to feel the sun streaming warmly through the
shutter of her cabin, and to see a woman who held a cup in her
hand, watching her--a stout woman of middle age with a not
unkindly face. She looked about her and remembered all. So she
was still in the ship.
"Whence come you?" she asked the woman.
"From France, lady. This ship put in at Marseilles, and there I
was hired to nurse one who lay sick, which suited me very well,
as I wished to go to Jerusalem to seek my husband, and good money
was offered me. Still, had I known that they were all Saracens on
this ship, I am not sure that I should have come--that is, except
the captain, Sir Hugh, and the palmer Nicholas; though what they,
or you either, are doing in such company I cannot guess."
"What is your name?" asked Rosamund idly.
"Marie--Marie Bouchet. My husband is a fishmonger, or was, until
one of those crusading priests got hold of him and took him off
to kill Paynims and save his soul, much against my will. Well, I
promised him that if he did not return in five years I would come
to look for him. So here I am, but where he may be is another
matter."
"It is brave of you to go," said Rosamund, then added by an
afterthought, "How long is it since we left Marseilles?"
Marie counted on her fat fingers, and answered:
"Five--nearly six weeks. You have been wandering in your mind all
that time, talking of many strange things, and we have called at
three ports. I forget their names, but the last one was an island
with a beautiful harbour. Now, in about twenty days, if all goes
well, we should reach another island called Cyprus. But you must
not talk so much, you must sleep. The Saracen called Hassan, who
is a clever doctor, told me so."
So Rosamund slept, and from that time forward, floating on the
calm Mediterranean sea, her strength began to come back again
rapidly, who was young and strong in body and constitution.
Three days later she was helped to the deck, where the first man
she saw was Hassan, who came forward to greet her with many
Eastern salutations and joy written on his dark, wrinkled face.
"I give thanks to Allah for your sake and my own," he said. "For
yours that you still live whom I thought would die, and for
myself that had you died your life would have been required at my
hands by Salah-ed-din, my master."
"If so, he should have blamed Azrael, not you," answered
Rosamund, smiling; then suddenly turned cold, for before her was
Sir Hugh Lozelle, who also thanked Heaven that she had recovered.
She listened to him coldly, and presently he went away, but soon
was at her side again. Indeed, she could never be free of him,
for whenever she appeared on deck he was there, nor could he be
repelled, since neither silence nor rebuff would stir him. Always
he sat near, talking in his false, hateful voice, and devouring
her with the greedy eyes which she could feel fixed upon her
face. With him often was his jackal, the false palmer Nicholas,
who crawled about her like a snake and strove to flatter her,
but to this man she would never speak a word.
At last she could bear it no longer, and when her health had
returned to her, summoned Hassan to her cabin.
"Tell me, prince," she said, "who rules upon this vessel?"
"Three people," he answered, bowing. "The knight, Sir Hugh
Lozelle, who, as a skilled navigator, is the captain and rules
the sailors; I, who rule the fighting men; and you, Princess, who
rule us all."
"Then I command that the rogue named Nicholas shall not be
allowed to approach me. Is it to be borne that I must associate
with my father's murderer? "
"I fear that in that business we all had a hand, nevertheless
your order shall be obeyed. To tell you the truth, lady, I hate
the fellow, who is but a common spy."
"I desire also," went on Rosamund, "to speak no more with Sir
Hugh Lozelle."
"That is more difficult," said Hassan, "since he is the captain
whom my master ordered me to obey in all things that have to do
with the ship."
"I have nothing to do with the ship," answered Rosamund; "and
surely the princess of Baalbec, if so I am, may choose her own
companions. I wish to see more of you and less of Sir Hugh
Lozelle."
"I am honoured," replied Hassan, "and will do my best."
For some days after this, although he was always watching her,
Lozelle approached Rosamund but seldom, and whenever he did so he
found Hassan at her side, or rather standing behind her like a
guard.
At length, as it chanced, the prince was taken with a sickness
from drinking bad water which held him to his bed for some days,
and then Lozelle found his opportunity. Rosamund strove to keep
her cabin to avoid him, but the heat of the summer sun in the
Mediterranean drove her out of it to a place beneath an awning on
the poop, where she sat with the woman Marie. Here Lozelle
approached her, pretending to bring her food or to inquire after
her comfort, but she would answer him nothing. At length, since
Marie could understand what he said in French, he addressed her
in Arabic, which he spoke well, but she feigned not to understand
him. Then he used the English tongue as it was talked among the
common people in Essex, and said:
"Lady, how sorely you misjudge me. What is my crime against you?
I am an Essex man of good lineage, who met you in Essex and
learnt to love you there. Is that a crime, in one who is not
poor, who, moreover, was knighted for his deeds by no mean hand?
Your father said me nay, and you said me nay, and, stung by my
disappointment and his words--for he called me sea-thief and
raked up old tales that are not true against me--I talked as I
should not have done, swearing that I would wed you yet in spite
of all. For this I was called to account with justice, and your
cousin, the young knight Godwin, who was then a squire, struck me
in the face. Well, he worsted and wounded me, fortune favouring
him, and I departed with my vessel to the East, for that is my
business, to trade between Syria and England.
"Now, as it chanced, there being peace at the time between the
Sultan and the Christians, I visited Damascus to buy merchandise.
Whilst I was there Saladin sent for me and asked if it were true
that I belonged to a part of England called Essex. When I
answered yes, he asked if I knew Sir Andrew D'Arcy and his
daughter. Again I said yes, whereon he told me that strange tale
of your kinship to him, of which I had heard already; also a
still stranger tale of some dream that he had dreamed concerning
you, which made it necessary that you should be brought to his
court, where he was minded to raise you to great honour. In the
end, he offered to hire my finest ship for a large sum, if I
would sail it to England to fetch you; but he did not tell me
that any force was to be used, and I, on my part, said that I
would lift no hand against you or your father, nor indeed have I
done so."
"Who remembered the swords of Godwin and Wulf," broke in Rosamund
scornfully, "and preferred that braver men should face them."
"Lady," answered Lozelle, colouring, "hitherto none have accused
me of a lack of courage. Of your courtesy, listen, I pray you. I
did wrong to enter on this business; but lady, it was love for
you that drove me to it, for the thought of this long voyage in
your company was a bait I could not withstand."
"Paynim gold was the bait you could not withstand--that is what
you mean. Be brief, I pray you. I weary.
"Lady, you are harsh and misjudge me, as I will show," and he
looked about him cautiously. "Within a week from now, if all goes
well, we cast anchor at Limazol in Cyprus, to take in food and
water before we run to a secret port near Antioch, whence you are
to be taken overland to Damascus, avoiding all cities of the
Franks. Now, the Emperor Isaac of Cyprus is my friend, and over
him Saladin has no power. Once in his court, you would be safe
until such time as you found opportunity to return to England.
This, then, is my plan--that you should escape from the ship at
night as I can arrange."
"And what is your payment," she asked, "who are a merchant
knight?"
"My payment, lady, is--yourself. In Cyprus we will be wed--oh!
think before you answer. At Damascus many dangers await you; with
me you will find safety and a Christian husband who loves you
well--so well that for your sake he is willing to lose his ship
and, what is more, to break faith with Saladin, whose arm is
long."
"Have done," she said coldly. "Sooner will I trust myself to an
honest Saracen than to you, Sir Hugh, whose spurs, if you met
your desert, should be hacked from your heels by scullions. Yes,
sooner would I take death for my lord than you, who for your own
base ends devised the plot that brought my father to his murder
and me to slavery. Have done, I say, and never dare again to
speak of love to me," and rising, she walked past him to her
cabin.
But Lozelle looking after her muttered to himself, "Nay, fair
lady, I have but begun; nor will I forget your bitter words, for
which you shall pay the merchant knight in kisses."
>From her cabin Rosamund sent a message to Hassan, saying that
she would speak with him.
He came, still pale with illness, and asked her will, whereon she
told him what had passed between Lozelle and herself, demanding
his protection against this man.
Hassan's eyes flashed.
"Yonder he stands," he said, "alone. Will you come with me and
speak to him?"
She bowed her head, and giving her his hand, he led her to the
poop.
"Sir captain," he began, addressing Lozelle, "the Princess here
tells me a strange story--that you have dared to offer your love
to her, by Allah! to her, a niece of Salah-ed-din."
"What of it, Sir Saracen?" answered Lozelle, insolently. "Is not
a Christian knight fit mate for the blood of an Eastern chief ?
Had I offered her less than marriage, you might have spoken."
"You!" answered Hassan, with rage in his low voice, "you,
huckstering thief and renegade, who swear by Mahomet in Damascus
and by your prophet Jesus in England--ay, deny it not, I have
heard you, as I have heard that rogue, Nicholas, your servant.
You, her fit mate? Why, were it not that you must guide this
ship, and that my master bade me not to quarrel with you till
your task was done, I would behead you now and cut from your
throat the tongue that dared to speak such words," and as he
spoke he gripped the handle of his scimitar.
Lozelle quailed before his fierce eyes, for well he knew Hassan,
and knew also that if it came to fighting his sailors were no
match for the emir and his picked Saracens.
"When our duty is done you shall answer for those words," he
said, trying to look brave.
"By Allah! I hold you to the promise," replied Hassan. "Before
Salah-ed-din I will answer for them when and where you will, as
you shall answer to him for your treachery."
"Of what, then, am I accused?" asked Lozelle. "Of loving the lady
Rosamund, as do all men--perhaps yourself, old and withered as
you are, among them?"
"Ay, and for that crime I will repay you, old and withered as I
am, Sir Renegade. But with Salah-ed-din you have another score to
settle--that by promising her escape you tried to seduce her from
this ship, where you were sworn to guard her, saying that you
would find her refuge among the Greeks of Cyprus."
"Were this true," replied Lozelle, "the Sultan might have cause
of complaint against me. But it is not true. Hearken, since speak
I must. The lady Rosamund prayed me to do this deed, and I told
her that for my honour's sake it is not possible, although it was
true that I loved her now as always, and would dare much for her.
Then she said that if I did but save her from you Saracens, I
should not go without my reward, since she would wed me. Again,
although it cost me sore, I answered that it might not be, but
when once I had brought my ship to land, I was her true knight,
and being freed of my oath, would do my best to save her."
"Princess, you hear," said Hassan, turning to Rosamund. "What say
you?"
"I say," she answered coldly, "that this man lies to save
himself. I say, moreover, that I answered to him, that sooner
would I die than that he should lay a finger on me."
"I hold also that he lies," said Hassan. "Nay; unclasp that
dagger if you would live to see another sun. Here, I will not
fight with you, but Salah-ed-din shall learn all this case when
we reach his court, and judge between the word of the princess of
Baalbec and of his hired servant, the false Frank and pirate, Sir
Hugh Lozelle."
"Let him learn it--when we reach his court," answered Lozelle,
with meaning; then added, "Have you aught else to say to me,
prince Hassan? Because if not, I must be attending to the
business of my ship, which you suppose that I was about to
abandon to win a lady's smile."
"Only this, that the ship is the Sultan's and not yours, for he
bought it from you, and that henceforth this lady will be guarded
day and night, and doubly guarded when we come to the shores of
Cyprus, where it seems that you have friends. Understand and
remember."
"I understand, and certainly I will remember," replied Lozelle,
and so they parted.
"I think," said Rosamund, when he had gone, "that we shall be
fortunate if we land safe in Syria."
"That was in my mind, also, lady. I think, too, that I have
forgot my wisdom, but my heart rose against this man, and being
still weak from sickness, I lost my judgment and spoke what was
in my heart, who would have done better to wait. Now, perhaps, it
will be best to kill him, if it were not that he alone has the
skill to navigate the ship, which is a trade that he has followed
from his youth. Nay, let it go as Allah wills. He is just, and
will bring the matter to judgment in due time."
"Yes, but to what judgment?" asked Rosamund.
"I hope to that of the sword," answered Hassan, as he bowed and
left her.
>From that time forward armed men watched all the night through
before Rosamund's cabin, and when she walked the deck armed men
walked after her. Nor was she troubled by Lozelle, who sought to
speak with her no more, or to Hassan either. Only with the man
Nicholas he spoke much.
At length upon one golden evening--for Lozelle was a skilful
pilot, one of the best, indeed, who sailed those seas--they came
to the shores of Cyprus, and cast anchor. Before them, stretched
along the beach, lay the white town of Limazol, with palm trees
standing up amidst its gardens, while beyond the fertile plain
rose the mighty mountain range of Trooidos. Sick and weary of the
endless ocean, Rosamund gazed with rapture at this green and
beauteous shore, the home of so much history, and sighed to think
that on it she might set no foot. Lozelle saw her look and heard
her sigh, and as he climbed into the boat which had come out to
row him into the harbour, mocked her, saying:
"Will you not change your mind, lady, and come with me to visit
my friend, the Emperor Isaac? I swear that his court is gay, not
packed full of sour Saracens or pilgrims thinking of their souls.
In Cyprus they only make pilgrimages to Paphos yonder, where
Venus was born from out the foam, and has reigned since the
beginning of the world--ay, and will reign until its end."
Rosamund made no answer, and Lozelle, descending into the boat,
was rowed shorewards through the breakers by the dark-skinned,
Cyprian oarsmen, who wore flowers in their hair and sang as they
laboured at the oars.
For ten whole days they rolled off Limazol, although the weather
was fair and the wind blew straight for Syria. When Rosamund
asked why they bided there so long, Hassan stamped his foot and
said it was because the Emperor refused to supply them with more
food or water than was sufficient for their daily need, unless
he, Hassan, would land and travel to an inland town called
Nicosia, where his court lay, and there do homage to him. This,
scenting a trap, he feared to do, nor could they put out to sea
without provisions.
"Cannot Sir Hugh Lozelle see to it?" asked Rosamund.
"Doubtless, if he will," answered Hassan, grinding his teeth;
"but he swears that he is powerless."
So there they bode day after day, baked by the sweltering summer
sun and rocked to and fro on the long ocean rollers till their
hearts grew sick within them, and their bodies also, for some of
them were seized with a fever common to the shores of Cyprus, of
which two died. Now and again some officer would come off from
the shore with Lozelle and a little food and water, and bargain
with them, saying that before their wants were supplied the
prince Hassan must visit the Emperor and bring with him the fair
lady who was his passenger, whom he desired to see.
Hassan would answer no, and double the guard about Rosamund, for
at nights boats appeared that cruised round them. In the daytime
also bands of men, fantastically dressed in silks, and with them
women, could be seen riding to and fro upon the shore and staring
at them, as though they were striving to make up their minds to
attack the ship.
Then Hassan armed his grim Saracens and bade them stand in line
upon the bulwarks, drawn scimitar in hand, a sight that seemed to
frighten the Cypriotes--at least they always rode away towards
the great square tower of Colossi.
At length Hassan would bear it no more. One morning Lozelle came
off from Limazol, where he slept at night, bringing with him
three Cyprian lords, who visited the ship--not to bargain as they
pretended, but to obtain sight of the beauteous princess
Rosamund. Thereon the common talk began of homage that must be
paid before food was granted, failing which the Emperor would bid
his seamen capture the ship. Hassan listened a while, then
suddenly issued an order that the lords should be seized.
"Now," he said to Lozelle, "bid your sailors haul up the anchor,
and let us begone for Syria."
"But," answered the knight, "we have neither food nor water for
more than one day."
"I care not," answered Hassan, "as well die of thirst and
starvation on the sea as rot here with fever. What we can bear
these Cyprian gallants can bear also. Bid the sailors lift the
anchor and hoist the sail, or I loose my scimitars among them."
Now Lozelle stamped and foamed, but without avail, so he turned
to the three lords, who were pale with fear, and said:
"Which will you do: find food and water for this ship, or put to
sea without them, which is but to die?"
They answered that they would go ashore and supply all that was
needful.
"Nay," said Hassan, "you bide here until it comes."
In the end, then, this happened, for one of the lords chanced to
be a nephew of the Emperor, who, when he learned that he was
captive, sent supplies in plenty. Thus it came about that the
Cyprian lords having been sent back with the last empty boat,
within two days they were at sea again.
Now Rosamund missed the hated face of the spy, Nicholas, and told
Hassan, who made inquiry, to find--or so said Lozelle--that he
went ashore and vanished there on the first day of their landing
in Cyprus, though whether he had been killed in some brawl, or
fallen sick, or hidden himself away, he did not know. Hassan
shrugged his shoulders, and Rosamund was glad enough to be rid of
him, but in her heart she wondered for what evil purpose Nicholas
had left the ship.
When the galley was one day out from Cyprus steering for the
coast of Syria, they fell into a calm such as is common in those
seas in summer. This calm lasted eight whole days, during which
they made but little progress. At length, when all were weary of
staring at the oil-like sea, a wind sprang up that grew gradually
to a gale blowing towards Syria, and before it they fled along
swiftly. Worse and stronger grew that gale, till on the evening
of the second day, when they seemed in no little danger of being
pooped, they saw a great mountain far away, at the sight of which
Lozelle thanked God aloud.
"Are those the mountains near Antioch?" asked Hassan.
"Nay," he answered, "they are more than fifty miles south of
them, between Ladikiya and Jebela. There, by the mercy of Heaven,
is a good haven, for I have visited it, where we can lie till
this storm is past."
"But we are steering for Darbesak, not for a haven near Jebela,
which is a Frankish port," answered Hassan, angrily.
"Then put the ship about and steer there yourself," said Lozelle,
"and I promise you this, that within two hours every one of you
will be dead at the bottom of the sea."
Hassan considered. It was true, for then the waves would strike
them broadside on, and they must fill and sink.
"On your head be it," he answered shortly.
The dark fell, and by the light of the great lantern at their
prow they saw the white seas hiss past as they drove shorewards
beneath bare masts. For they dared hoist no sail.
All that night they pitched and rolled, till the stoutest of them
fell sick, praying God and Allah that they might have light by
which to enter the harbour. At length they saw the top of the
loftiest mountain grow luminous with the coming dawn, although
the land itself was still lost in shadow, and saw also that it
seemed to be towering almost over them.
"Take courage," cried Lozelle, "I think that we are saved," and
he hoisted a second lantern at his masthead--why, they did not
know.
After this the sea began to fall, only to grow rough again for a
while as they crossed some bar, to find themselves in calm water,
and on either side of them what appeared in the dim, uncertain
light to be the bush-clad banks of a river. For a while they ran
on, till Lozelle called in a loud voice to the sailors to let the
anchor go, and sent a messenger to say that all might rest now,
as they were safe. So they laid them down and tried to sleep.
But Rosamund could not sleep. Presently she rose, and throwing on
her cloak went to the door of the cabin and looked at the beauty
of the mountains, rosy with the new-born light, and at the misty
surface of the harbour. It was a lonely place--at least, she
could see no town or house, although they were lying not fifty
yards from the tree-hidden shore. As she stood thus, she heard
the sound of boats being rowed through the mist, and perceived
three or four of these approaching the ship in silence, perceived
also that Lozelle, who stood alone upon the deck, was watching
their approach. Now the first boat made fast and a man in the
prow rose up and began to speak to Lozelle in a low voice. As he
did so the hood fell back from his head, and Rosamund saw the
face. It was that of the spy Nicholas! For a moment she stood
amazed, for they had left this man in Cyprus; then understanding
came to her and she cried aloud:
"Treachery! Prince Hassan, there is treachery."
As the words left her lips fierce, wild-looking men began to
scramble aboard at the low waist of the galley, to which boat
after boat made fast. The Saracens also tumbled from the benches
where they slept and ran aft
to the deck where Rosamund was, all except one of them.
who was cut off in the prow of the ship. Prince Hassan appeared,
too, scimitar in hand, clad in his jewelled turban and coat of
mail, but without his cloak, shouting orders as he came, while
the hired crew of the ship flung themselves upon their knees and
begged for mercy. To him Rosamund cried out that they were
betrayed and by Nicholas, whom she had seen. Then a great man,
wearing a white burnous and holding a naked sword in his hand,
stepped forward and said in Arabic:
"Yield you now, for you are outnumbered and your captain is
captured," and he pointed to Lozelle, who was being held by two
men while his arms were bound behind him.
"In whose name do you bid me yield?" asked the prince, glaring
about him like a lion in a trap.
"In the dread name of Sinan, in the name of the lord Al-je-bal, O
servant of Salah-ed-din."
At these words a groan of fear went up even from the brave
Saracens, for now they learned that they had to do with the
terrible chief of the Assassins.
"Is there then war between the Sultan and Sinan?" asked Hassan.
"Ay, there is always war. Moreover, you have one with you," and
he pointed to Rosamund, "who is dear to Salah-ed-din, whom,
therefore, my master desires as a hostage."
"How knew you that?" said Hassan, to gain time while his men
formed up.
"How does the lord Sinan know all things?" was the answer; "Come,
yield, and perhaps he will show you mercy."
"Through spies," hissed Hassan, "such spies as Nicholas, who has
come from Cyprus before us, and that Frankish dog who is called a
knight," and he pointed to Lozelle. "Nay, we yield not, and here,
Assassins, you have to do not with poisons and the knife, but
with bare swords and brave men. Ay, and I warn you--and your
lord-- that Salah-ed-din will take vengeance for this deed."
"Let him try it if he wishes to die, who hitherto has been
spared," answered the tall man quietly. Then he said to his
followers, "Cut them down, all save the women"--for the
Frenchwoman, Marie, was now clinging to the arm of Rosamund--"and
emir Hassan, whom I am commanded to bring living to Masyaf."
"Back to your cabin, lady," said Hassan, "and remember that
whate'er befalls, we have done our best to save you. Ay, and
tell it to my lord, that my honour may be clean in his eyes. Now,
soldiers of Salah-ed-din, fight and die as he has taught you how.
The gates of Paradise stand open, and no coward will enter
there."
They answered with a fierce, guttural cry. Then, as Rosamund fled
to the cabin, the fray began, a hideous fray. On came the
Assassins with sword and dagger, striving to storm the deck.
Again and again they were beaten back, till the waist seemed full
of their corpses, as man by man they fell beneath the curved
scimitars, and again and again they charged these men who, when
their master ordered, knew neither fear nor pity. But more
boatloads came from the shore, and the Saracens were but few,
worn also with storm and sickness, so at last Rosamund, peeping
beneath her hand, saw that the poop was gained.
Here and there a man fought on until he fell beneath the cruel
knives in the midst of the circle of the dead, among them the
warrior-prince Hassan. Watching him with fascinated eyes as he
strove alone against a host, Rosamund was put in mind of another
scene, when her father, also alone, had striven thus against that
emir and his soldiers, and even then she bethought her of the
justice of God.
See! his foot slipped on the blood-stained deck. He was down, and
ere he could rise again they had thrown cloaks over him, these
fierce, silent men, who even with their lives at stake,
remembered the command of their captain, to take him living. So
living they took him, with not a wound upon his skin, who when he
struck them down, had never struck back at him lest the command
of Sinan should be broken.
Rosamund noted it, and remembering that his command was also that
she should be brought to him unharmed, knew that she had no
violence to fear at the hands of these cruel murderers. From this
thought, and because Hassan still lived, she took such comfort as
she might.
"It is finished," said the tall man, in his cold voice. "Cast
these dogs into the sea who have dared to disobey the command of
Al-je-bal."
So they took them up, dead and living together, and threw them
into the water, where they sank, nor did one of the wounded
Saracens pray them for mercy. Then they served their own dead
likewise, but those that were only wounded they took ashore. This
done, the tall man advanced to the cabin and said:
"Lady, come, we are ready to start upon our journey."
Having no choice, Rosamund obeyed him, remembering as she went
how from a scene of battle and bloodshed she had been brought
aboard that ship to be carried she knew not whither, which now
she left in a scene of battle and bloodshed to be carried she
knew not whither.
"Oh!" she cried aloud, pointing to the corpses they hurled into
the deep, "ill has it gone with these who stole me, and ill may
it go with you also, servant of Al-je-bal."
But the tall man answered nothing, as followed by the weeping
Marie and the prince Hassan, he led her to the boat.
Soon they reached the shore, and here they tore Marie from her,
nor did Rosamund ever learn what became of her, or whether or no
this poor woman found her husband whom she had dared so much to
seek.
