CHAPTER XIII

The Moslem Host

INSTANTLY the city was in a state of orderly commotion. Men rushed hither and thither, each with a set purpose--the knights to don their armour, the commoners to arm themselves and run to their appointed stations on the walls, while the serfs issued through the gates to gather in the corn, which was now fit for the sickle. The latter, although having barely three hours to perform their task, worked so rapidly that when the advance guard of the Moslems appeared in the valley most of the corn had been gathered in. The rest was set on fire, and the serfs retired behind the walls. The five drawbridges were raised and the ponderous gates shut and securely barred, while behind the battlements the citizen army of Croixilia waited in orderly silence the advance of their hereditary foes.

On came the Moslem vanguard--mounted men, armed with long guns and spears, resplendent in the barbaric finery of the East. Cymbals and drums crashed in defiance, while under the waving green banners of Islam the fanatical warriors shouted death to the silent soldiers on the walls. Some of the Arabs, in pure bravado, galloped up to the edge of the moat and daringly discharged their weapons at their foes, till a well-directed shower of arrows struck down several and left the rest to ride back with loose rein, still shouting defiance at the Christian warriors.

Meanwhile their vanguard dismounted at slightly more than an arrow's flight from the walls, and awaited the rest of the Mohammedan host.

To the two lads the spectacle was fascinating, in spite of the possible peril that might ensue. It seemed as if there was no end to the number of the fierce besiegers. Bedouins mounted on horses or on camels, half-naked Baggaras armed with spears and circular hide shields, levies from the wilds of Kordofan and the hilly deserts of the Ahaggar, and negroes from the unconquered deserts of the Western Sudan--men representing all the tribes and nations of northern Africa had forgathered to crush the little, isolated State over which the hated cross of the Christians still floated proudly in the breeze.

Meanwhile Reeves had not been idle. Although several cannons had been placed on the walls on all sides, their positions carefully screened from outside observation, he had kept ten pieces in reserve, mounted on travelling carriages. These he had brought round to the probable point of attack, but strict orders had been given that no shot was to be fired until the Englishman himself gave the signal by discharging a cannon with his own hands.

True to their traditions to close with the enemy, the Arabs did not wait until their long baggage trains had arrived, but, forming in compact masses, began the attack.

Supported by the fire of nearly two thousand muskets, the spearmen advanced with the greatest intrepidity. Many of them bore roughly-constructed ladders, trunks of palm trees, and bundles of straw, for the purpose of bridging the moat and scaling the lofty walls--to conquer or die.

As the bullets whizzed overhead, or flattened themselves harmlessly against the stonework, the Croixilians lay behind the shelter of their battlements--the archers with their bows strung and their arrows lying close to hand, the crossbowmen with their powerful weapons bent almost to breaking-point, and the knights ready, with sword, axe, or mace, to sweep the invaders from off the parapet. Heaps of stone, bundles of flaming straw, great balks of spike-studded timber, and bowls of melted 'lead and hot pitch were in readiness to be hurled upon the heads of the reckless attackers.

Reeves felt that he could leave the defence of the walls solely to the knights and archers, while he gave orders for the artillery to be trained upon the still unsuspecting supports, who, firing from beyond bowshot, imagined that they could gall the defenders with impunity.

On and on came the storming-party, till the place seemed black with human beings. Still no shaft sped from the battlements. In an unswerving belief in their own power, the Baggaras, thinking that their foes were already demoralized, rushed with loud cries towards the walls. Already they were bridging the moat, and the fire of the covering force was compelled to cease, lest the bullets should do more harm to their friends than to their foes.

Calmly Reeves applied the linstock to his gun, the Croixilian gunners did likewise to theirs, and the roar of defiant voices was drowned by the thunder of the ordnance.

Before the smoke had drifted away, the artillerymen sprang to their pieces with sponge and rammer, as if brought up to it from infancy, loading with bags of grape shot so as to direct their fire upon the stormers.

Reeves gave a hasty glance to see the result of the first volley. The shells, magnificently aimed and timed, had burst well over the dense masses of the main Arab army.

Totally unexpected, the sudden storm of shot wrought havoc upon the astonished foe, and in a disorderly rabble they fled, leaving hundreds of their comrades lying dead or wounded on the field. Nor did they halt until they had placed a good two miles between them and the walls, taking shelter in a deep and wide khor or valley on the eastern side of the plain.

But the fierce Baggaras, although they heard the crash of the artillery, were made of sterner stuff. In spite of volleys of arrows they succeeded in raising their ladders, some perishing miserably by fire in the ditch, while those whose heads appeared above the battlements were struck down by cold steel. Still they persevered, the shouts of "Allah" rising above the din of the combatants, until a second volley of artillery, coming from a dozen well-depressed muzzles, tore lanes through their crowded and disorderly ranks. That was more than the most fanatical Arab could stand, and in a few moments the panic-stricken survivors were fleeing to rejoin their already scattered main body.

"They'll clear out after this," exclaimed Hugh; "they had more than they bargained for."

"I quite agree with the latter part of your words, Rags," said Reeves, who was black from head to foot with burnt powder; "but I don't think they'll leave us in peace so tamely. They've learnt a lesson, and will no doubt profit by it."

The correspondent was right. Before night other large bodies of Arabs appeared, and, keeping at a respectful distance, began to form camps on all sides of the city.

"If they mean to starve us out they will have to wait a long time," said Sir Jehan, as he passed along the walls.

"For how long will the provisions last?" asked the correspondent.

"At least a twelvemonth, I hope, not taking into account the grain we can grow within the city."

"And water?"

"Enough to spare, unless----" Sir Jehan paused, then in a lower tone he continued: "Unless they discover the underground aqueduct from the hills."

Reeves gave a low whistle.

"I hope they won't," he replied bluntly.

"I'd give anything to have my binoculars here," he exclaimed, after Sir Jehan had passed on. "Those fellows are up to some mischief," and he pointed to the Arab encampment.

"What do you think they are up to?" asked Gerald.

"Something I've never known the true Arabs do before. They are actually entrenching themselves I believe."

"Well, what does that mean?"

"That they've someone with them who has been trained in a European army. Usually the Arabs are content to make a zariba of thorns, when they go to the trouble of making defensive works at all; but I would bet my bottom dollar that they are digging like fury over there."

Just before sundown a fierce musketry fire was opened upon the city on all sides, and by the relative positions of the puffs of smoke the correspondent knew that the enemy were firing in extended order. Nearer and nearer they came, and, although the fire slackened somewhat, it continued throughout the night, so that the defenders had but little chance of rest. Occasionally they would return the compliment with a round from one of the guns; but since the damage done upon the scattered line of riflemen would hardly justify the expenditure of powder, Reeves ordered the other gunners to stand by but not to reply.

"We must watch those rascals," he remarked to his young comrades. "Sir Jehan told me that on the last occasion when they appeared before the walls they succeeded in blowing in the north gate by dumping a bag of powder against it. To make sure that the stuff would go up, one of those cheerful Baggaras calmly stood over it and lit it with a torch. It shows what desperate fellows we have to deal with."

During the assault on the preceding night the Croixilians had not come off unharmed. Seven had fallen by spears flung by the stormers, while nearly twenty had been killed or wounded by dropping shots from the Arab sharpshooters; but up to the present the tide of battle was greatly in favour of the besieged. Nevertheless, Reeves did not feel particularly comfortable. His instinct told him that something was behind the unaccountable entrenching tactics of the enemy. Perhaps, also, they might, in the course of their excavations, come across the buried aqueduct. If that were the case, it would mean either a miserable death from thirst within the walls, or extermination in a desperate sortie from the doomed city.

At sunrise the correspondent ascended the Mound of Pharamond, and, climbing to the top of the highest tower, gazed in the direction of the largest hostile camp.

A confused babel of voices borne on the faint breeze told him that the Moslems were performing their morning devotions. As he waited and watched, a hush seemed to fall upon the invading host. Suddenly a white cloud of smoke burst from a sandhill, and a shell, shrieking well over the walls, exploded in one of the houses adjoining the marketplace.

Reeves ground his teeth. The Arabs were using a modern rifled gun! The situation was indeed serious.