CHAPTER XXXI.
THE TRAGEDY OF PHARESCOUR.
AT Pharescour, on the margin of the Nile, the Sultan of Egypt had aremarkable palace. It appears to have been constructed of wood, andcovered with cloth of brilliant colours. At the entrance was a pavilion,where the emirs and chiefs were in the habit of leaving their swords,when they had audience of the sultan; and beyond this pavilion was ahandsome gateway which led to the great hall where the sultan feasted;and adjoining the great hall was a tower, by which the sultan ascendedto his private apartments.
Between the palace and the river was a spacious lawn, in which there wasa tower, to which the sultan was wont to ascend when he wished to makeobservations on the surrounding country; and hard by was an alley whichled towards the margin of the hill, and a summer-house formed oftrellis-work and covered with Indian linen, where he frequently repairedfor the purpose of bathing.
The chroniclers of the period who write of the crusade of St. Louisfully describe this palace. Indeed, the appearance of the place wasstrongly impressed on the memory of the Crusaders. It was there thatTouran Chah, when on his way from Mansourah to Damietta, halted toreceive the congratulations of the Moslem chiefs on the victory that hadbeen achieved over the Franks; there, in their company, he celebratedhis triumph by a grand banquet; and there was enacted the terribletragedy that exposed the surviving pilgrims to new dangers and freshtrials.
By this time, indeed, the emirs and Mamelukes had become so exasperatedat the elevation of the sultan's favourite courtiers that they vowedvengeance; and, in order to justify their project, they ascribed to himthe most sinister designs. It was asserted that many of the emirs weredoomed to die on a certain day; and that, in the midst of a nocturnalorgy, Touran Chah had cut off the tops of the flambeaux in his chamber,crying--'Thus shall fly the heads of all the Mamelukes.' In order toavenge herself for the neglect to which she was exposed under the newreign, Chegger Edour, the sultana who had played so important a part inthe last days of Melikul Salih, exerted her eloquence to stimulate thediscontent; and the emirs and Mamelukes, having formed a conspiracy,only awaited a convenient opportunity to complete their projects ofvengeance at a blow.
It was the day after his arrival at Pharescour, on which Touran Chahgave a banquet to the chiefs of his army; and, as it happened, thecompany comprised the Mamelukes and the emirs who were, or who deemedthemselves, in danger. It would seem that everything went forwardquietly and ceremoniously till the feast was ended, and the sultan roseto ascend to his chamber. Not a moment, however, was then lost. As soonas Touran Chah moved from table, Bibars Bendocdar, who carried thesultan's sword, struck the first blow, and instantly the others rushedfuriously upon their destined victim. Touran Chah parried the blow ofthe Mameluke chief with his hand; but the weapon penetrated between twoof his fingers and cut up his arm.
'My lords,' said he, taken by surprise; 'I make my complaint againstthis man, who has endeavoured to kill me.'
'Better that you should be slain than live to murder us, as you intendto do,' cried all present, with the exception of an envoy of the caliph,who had arrived from Bagdad, and appeared much terrified at the scene sosuddenly presented.
Touran Chah looked round him in amazement; and, as he did so, he wasseized with terror. However, the instinct of self-preservation did notdesert him. With a spring he bounded between the motionless guards,escaped into the lawn, took refuge in the tower, and looking from awindow demanded of the conspirators what they really wanted; but theywere not in a humour to spend time in talk.
'Come down,' cried they; 'you cannot escape us.'
'Assure me of safety, and I will willingly descend,' said the sultan.
At this stage the envoy of the caliph, having mounted his horse, cameforward as if to interfere; but the conspirators menaced him withinstant death if he did not return to his tent, and, still keenly benton completing their work of murder, ordered the sultan to come down.
Touran Chah shook his head, as if declining the invitation.
'Fool,' cried the conspirators, scornfully, 'we have the means ofcompelling you to descend, or to meet a worse fate;' and without furtherparley they commenced assailing the tower with Greek fire.
The Greek fire caught the cloth and timber, and immediately the wholewas in a blaze. Touran Chah could no longer hesitate. One hope remainedto him, namely to rush towards the Nile, to throw himself into thewater, and to take refuge on board one of the vessels that he sawanchored near the shore. Accordingly he leaped from the blazing tower,with the intention of rushing across the lawn. But the toils were uponhim. A nail having caught his mantle, he, after remaining for a momentsuspended, fell to the ground. Instantly sabres and swords waved overhim; and he clung in a supplicating posture to Octai, one of thecaptains of his guard; but Octai repulsed him with contempt.Nevertheless, the conspirators hesitated; and they were stillhesitating, when Bibars Bendocdar, who was never troubled either withfears or scruples, and who, indeed, had struck the first blow, made athrust so stern that the sword remained sticking fast between the ribsof the victim. Still resisting, however, the sultan contrived to draghimself to the Nile, with a hope of reaching the galleys from which thecaptive Crusaders witnessed the outrage; but some of the Mamelukesfollowed him into the water; and close to the galley in which the Lordof Joinville was, the heir of Saladin--the last of the Eioubites--diedmiserably.
It was now that the Mamelukes rushed into the tent where Louis and hisbrothers were.
'King,' cried Octai, pointing to his bloody sword, 'Touran Chah is nomore. What will you give me for having freed you from an enemy whomeditated your destruction as well as ours?'
Louis vouchsafed no reply.
'What!' cried the emir, furiously presenting the point of his sword;'know you not that I am master of your person? Make me a knight, or thouart a dead man.'
'Make thyself a Christian, and I will make thee a knight,' said Louis,calmly.
Rather cowed than otherwise with his reception, and with the demeanourof the royal captive, Octai retired; and the French king and hisbrothers once more breathed with as much freedom as men could under thecircumstances. But they were not long left undisturbed. Scarcely had theMameluke aspirant for knighthood disappeared when the tent was crowdedwith Saracens, who brandished their sabres and threatened Louis withdestruction.
'Frenchman!' cried they, addressing the king, wildly and fiercely; 'artthou ignorant of thy danger, or what may be the fate that awaits thee?Pharescour is not Mansourah, as events may convince thee yet. Here thoumayest find a tomb instead of the house of Lokman, and the two terribleangels, Munkir and Nakir, instead of the Eunuch Sahil.'