CHAPTER I.
They, too, retired To the wilderness, but 'twas with arms. PARADISE REGAINED.
The burning sun of Syria had not yet attained its highest point inthe horizon, when a knight of the Red Cross, who had left his distantnorthern home and joined the host of the Crusaders in Palestine, waspacing slowly along the sandy deserts which lie in the vicinity of theDead Sea, or, as it is called, the Lake Asphaltites, where the waves ofthe Jordan pour themselves into an inland sea, from which there is nodischarge of waters.
The warlike pilgrim had toiled among cliffs and precipices during theearlier part of the morning. More lately, issuing from those rockyand dangerous defiles, he had entered upon that great plain, wherethe accursed cities provoked, in ancient days, the direct and dreadfulvengeance of the Omnipotent.
The toil, the thirst, the dangers of the way, were forgotten, as thetraveller recalled the fearful catastrophe which had converted into anarid and dismal wilderness the fair and fertile valley of Siddim, oncewell watered, even as the Garden of the Lord, now a parched and blightedwaste, condemned to eternal sterility.
Crossing himself, as he viewed the dark mass of rolling waters, incolour as in duality unlike those of any other lake, the travellershuddered as he remembered that beneath these sluggish waves lay theonce proud cities of the plain, whose grave was dug by the thunder ofthe heavens, or the eruption of subterraneous fire, and whose remainswere hid, even by that sea which holds no living fish in its bosom,bears no skiff on its surface, and, as if its own dreadful bed were theonly fit receptacle for its sullen waters, sends not, like other lakes,a tribute to the ocean. The whole land around, as in the days of Moses,was "brimstone and salt; it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grassgroweth thereon." The land as well as the lake might be termed dead, asproducing nothing having resemblance to vegetation, and even the veryair was entirely devoid of its ordinary winged inhabitants, deterredprobably by the odour of bitumen and sulphur which the burning sunexhaled from the waters of the lake in steaming clouds, frequentlyassuming the appearance of waterspouts. Masses of the slimy andsulphureous substance called naphtha, which floated idly on the sluggishand sullen waves, supplied those rolling clouds with new vapours, andafforded awful testimony to the truth of the Mosaic history.
Upon this scene of desolation the sun shone with almost intolerablesplendour, and all living nature seemed to have hidden itself from therays, excepting the solitary figure which moved through the flittingsand at a foot's pace, and appeared the sole breathing thing on the widesurface of the plain. The dress of the rider and the accoutrements ofhis horse were peculiarly unfit for the traveller in such a country. Acoat of linked mail, with long sleeves, plated gauntlets, and a steelbreastplate, had not been esteemed a sufficient weight of armour; therewere also his triangular shield suspended round his neck, and his barredhelmet of steel, over which he had a hood and collar of mail, whichwas drawn around the warrior's shoulders and throat, and filled up thevacancy between the hauberk and the headpiece. His lower limbs weresheathed, like his body, in flexible mail, securing the legs and thighs,while the feet rested in plated shoes, which corresponded with thegauntlets. A long, broad, straight-shaped, double-edged falchion, witha handle formed like a cross, corresponded with a stout poniard on theother side. The knight also bore, secured to his saddle, with one endresting on his stirrup, the long steel-headed lance, his own properweapon, which, as he rode, projected backwards, and displayed its littlepennoncelle, to dally with the faint breeze, or drop in the dead calm.To this cumbrous equipment must be added a surcoat of embroidered cloth,much frayed and worn, which was thus far useful that it excluded theburning rays of the sun from the armour, which they would otherwise haverendered intolerable to the wearer. The surcoat bore, in several places,the arms of the owner, although much defaced. These seemed to be acouchant leopard, with the motto, "I sleep; wake me not." An outline ofthe same device might be traced on his shield, though many a blow hadalmost effaced the painting. The flat top of his cumbrous cylindricalhelmet was unadorned with any crest. In retaining their own unwieldydefensive armour, the Northern Crusaders seemed to set at defiance thenature of the climate and country to which they had come to war.
The accoutrements of the horse were scarcely less massive and unwieldythan those of the rider. The animal had a heavy saddle plated withsteel, uniting in front with a species of breastplate, and behind withdefensive armour made to cover the loins. Then there was a steel axe,or hammer, called a mace-of-arms, and which hung to the saddle-bow. Thereins were secured by chain-work, and the front-stall of the bridle wasa steel plate, with apertures for the eyes and nostrils, having in themidst a short, sharp pike, projecting from the forehead of the horselike the horn of the fabulous unicorn.
But habit had made the endurance of this load of panoply a secondnature, both to the knight and his gallant charger. Numbers, indeed,of the Western warriors who hurried to Palestine died ere they becameinured to the burning climate; but there were others to whom thatclimate became innocent and even friendly, and among this fortunatenumber was the solitary horseman who now traversed the border of theDead Sea.
Nature, which cast his limbs in a mould of uncommon strength, fittedto wear his linked hauberk with as much ease as if the meshes had beenformed of cobwebs, had endowed him with a constitution as strong as hislimbs, and which bade defiance to almost all changes of climate, as wellas to fatigue and privations of every kind. His disposition seemed, insome degree, to partake of the qualities of his bodily frame; and asthe one possessed great strength and endurance, united with the power ofviolent exertion, the other, under a calm and undisturbed semblance, hadmuch of the fiery and enthusiastic love of glory which constituted theprincipal attribute of the renowned Norman line, and had renderedthem sovereigns in every corner of Europe where they had drawn theiradventurous swords.
It was not, however, to all the race that fortune proposed such temptingrewards; and those obtained by the solitary knight during two years'campaign in Palestine had been only temporal fame, and, as he was taughtto believe, spiritual privileges. Meantime, his slender stock of moneyhad melted away, the rather that he did not pursue any of the ordinarymodes by which the followers of the Crusade condescended to recruittheir diminished resources at the expense of the people of Palestine--heexacted no gifts from the wretched natives for sparing their possessionswhen engaged in warfare with the Saracens, and he had not availedhimself of any opportunity of enriching himself by the ransom ofprisoners of consequence. The small train which had followed him fromhis native country had been gradually diminished, as the means ofmaintaining them disappeared, and his only remaining squire was atpresent on a sick-bed, and unable to attend his master, who travelled,as we have seen, singly and alone. This was of little consequence to theCrusader, who was accustomed to consider his good sword as his safestescort, and devout thoughts as his best companion.
Nature had, however, her demands for refreshment and repose even onthe iron frame and patient disposition of the Knight of the SleepingLeopard; and at noon, when the Dead Sea lay at some distance on hisright, he joyfully hailed the sight of two or three palm-trees, whicharose beside the well which was assigned for his mid-day station. Hisgood horse, too, which had plodded forward with the steady endurance ofhis master, now lifted his head, expanded his nostrils, and quickenedhis pace, as if he snuffed afar off the living waters which marked theplace of repose and refreshment. But labour and danger were doomed tointervene ere the horse or horseman reached the desired spot.
As the Knight of the Couchant Leopard continued to fix his eyesattentively on the yet distant cluster of palm-trees, it seemed to himas if some object was moving among them. The distant form separateditself from the trees, which partly hid its motions, and advancedtowards the knight with a speed which soon showed a mounted horseman,whom his turban, long spear, and green caftan floating in the wind, onhis nearer approach showed to be a Saracen cavalier. "In the desert,"saith an Eastern proverb, "no man meets a friend." Th
e Crusader wastotally indifferent whether the infidel, who now approached on hisgallant barb as if borne on the wings of an eagle, came as friend orfoe--perhaps, as a vowed champion of the Cross, he might rather havepreferred the latter. He disengaged his lance from his saddle, seizedit with the right hand, placed it in rest with its point half elevated,gathered up the reins in the left, waked his horse's mettle withthe spur, and prepared to encounter the stranger with the calmself-confidence belonging to the victor in many contests.
The Saracen came on at the speedy gallop of an Arab horseman, managinghis steed more by his limbs and the inflection of his body than by anyuse of the reins, which hung loose in his left hand; so that he wasenabled to wield the light, round buckler of the skin of the rhinoceros,ornamented with silver loops, which he wore on his arm, swinging it asif he meant to oppose its slender circle to the formidable thrust of theWestern lance. His own long spear was not couched or levelled like thatof his antagonist, but grasped by the middle with his right hand, andbrandished at arm's-length above his head. As the cavalier approachedhis enemy at full career, he seemed to expect that the Knight of theLeopard should put his horse to the gallop to encounter him. But theChristian knight, well acquainted with the customs of Eastern warriors,did not mean to exhaust his good horse by any unnecessary exertion; and,on the contrary, made a dead halt, confident that if the enemy advancedto the actual shock, his own weight, and that of his powerful charger,would give him sufficient advantage, without the additional momentumof rapid motion. Equally sensible and apprehensive of such a probableresult, the Saracen cavalier, when he had approached towards theChristian within twice the length of his lance, wheeled his steed to theleft with inimitable dexterity, and rode twice around his antagonist,who, turning without quitting his ground, and presenting his frontconstantly to his enemy, frustrated his attempts to attack him on anunguarded point; so that the Saracen, wheeling his horse, was fain toretreat to the distance of a hundred yards. A second time, like a hawkattacking a heron, the heathen renewed the charge, and a second timewas fain to retreat without coming to a close struggle. A third time heapproached in the same manner, when the Christian knight, desirous toterminate this illusory warfare, in which he might at length have beenworn out by the activity of his foeman, suddenly seized the mace whichhung at his saddle-bow, and, with a strong hand and unerring aim,hurled it against the head of the Emir, for such and not less his enemyappeared. The Saracen was just aware of the formidable missile in timeto interpose his light buckler betwixt the mace and his head; but theviolence of the blow forced the buckler down on his turban, and thoughthat defence also contributed to deaden its violence, the Saracen wasbeaten from his horse. Ere the Christian could avail himself of thismishap, his nimble foeman sprung from the ground, and, calling on hissteed, which instantly returned to his side, he leaped into his seatwithout touching the stirrup, and regained all the advantage of whichthe Knight of the Leopard hoped to deprive him. But the latter hadin the meanwhile recovered his mace, and the Eastern cavalier, whoremembered the strength and dexterity with which his antagonist hadaimed it, seemed to keep cautiously out of reach of that weapon of whichhe had so lately felt the force, while he showed his purpose of waging adistant warfare with missile weapons of his own. Planting his long spearin the sand at a distance from the scene of combat, he strung, withgreat address, a short bow, which he carried at his back; and puttinghis horse to the gallop, once more described two or three circles ofa wider extent than formerly, in the course of which he discharged sixarrows at the Christian with such unerring skill that the goodness ofhis harness alone saved him from being wounded in as many places. Theseventh shaft apparently found a less perfect part of the armour, andthe Christian dropped heavily from his horse. But what was the surpriseof the Saracen, when, dismounting to examine the condition of hisprostrate enemy, he found himself suddenly within the grasp of theEuropean, who had had recourse to this artifice to bring his enemywithin his reach! Even in this deadly grapple the Saracen was saved byhis agility and presence of mind. He unloosed the sword-belt, in whichthe Knight of the Leopard had fixed his hold, and, thus eluding hisfatal grasp, mounted his horse, which seemed to watch his motions withthe intelligence of a human being, and again rode off. But in the lastencounter the Saracen had lost his sword and his quiver of arrows, bothof which were attached to the girdle which he was obliged to abandon. Hehad also lost his turban in the struggle.
These disadvantages seemed to incline the Moslem to a truce. Heapproached the Christian with his right hand extended, but no longer ina menacing attitude.
"There is truce betwixt our nations," he said, in the lingua francacommonly used for the purpose of communication with the Crusaders;"wherefore should there be war betwixt thee and me? Let there be peacebetwixt us."
"I am well contented," answered he of the Couchant Leopard; "but whatsecurity dost thou offer that thou wilt observe the truce?"
"The word of a follower of the Prophet was never broken," answered theEmir. "It is thou, brave Nazarene, from whom I should demand security,did I not know that treason seldom dwells with courage."
The Crusader felt that the confidence of the Moslem made him ashamed ofhis own doubts.
"By the cross of my sword," he said, laying his hand on the weapon ashe spoke, "I will be true companion to thee, Saracen, while our fortunewills that we remain in company together."
"By Mohammed, Prophet of God, and by Allah, God of the Prophet," repliedhis late foeman, "there is not treachery in my heart towards thee. Andnow wend we to yonder fountain, for the hour of rest is at hand, andthe stream had hardly touched my lip when I was called to battle by thyapproach."
The Knight of the Couchant Leopard yielded a ready and courteous assent;and the late foes, without an angry look or gesture of doubt, rode sideby side to the little cluster of palm-trees.