CHAPTER IX.
AN ADVENTURE.
IT was not the good fortune of all the warriors who had taken the Crossto escape the perils of the deep, and reach Cyprus in safety.
About a month after Guy Muschamp and Walter Espec had reached Limisso, atall ship bearing a Crusader of noble name, who had left Constantinopleto combat the Saracens under the banner of St. Denis, was sailinggallantly towards Cyprus, when a violent storm arose, and threatened herwith destruction. The wind blew fiercely; the sea ran mountains high;and, though the ship for a time struggled sturdily with the elements,she could not resist her fate. Her cordage creaked, and her timbersgroaned dismally; and, as she was by turns borne aloft on the wavescrested with foam and precipitated headlong into the gulphs that yawnedbetween, great was the terror, loud the wailing, and frightful theturmoil. In vain the mariners exerted their strength and skill. Noefforts on their part could enable the vessel to resist the fury of thetempest.
Every minute matters became more desperate. The sea, recently calm,seemed to boil from its very depths; and the ship, incessantly tossed toand fro by the roaring billows, appeared, every moment, on the point ofbeing engulphed. The skipper was lost in consternation; the Crusadersgave way to despair; and with death staring them in the face they ceasedto hope for safety, and, kneeling, confessed to each other, and prayedaloud that their sins might be forgiven. At length, in spite of theefforts made by the mariners to resist the winds and waves, the ship,driven on the rocks near the island, filled with water, went to pieces,leaving those on board to struggle as they best might to escape a waterygrave. The struggle was vain. Many, indeed, caught hold of the vessel'stimbers with a vague hope of reaching the shore; but, unable to contendwith the elements, they, one after another, disappeared and sank to riseno more.
Now this terrible shipwreck was not without witnesses. On that part ofthe coast of Cyprus where it occurred was a rude hamlet chiefly tenantedby fishermen; and men, women, and children crowded the beach, utteringloud cries, and highly excited, but unable to render any assistance. Itseemed that no boat could live in such a sea; and the fishermen couldonly gaze mournfully on the heartrending scene, as the waves sprang upand rapaciously claimed their prey.
It was while the sea, agitated by the gale, was still running high;while the waves were leaping, and tearing, and dashing against therocks; and while flocks of sea birds wheeled and screamed over thetroubled waters, that a knight and two squires, who, having been caughtin the storm, while riding towards Limisso, reined up, and not withoutdifficulty learned from the natives, whose language they scarcelycomprehended, the nature and extent of the disaster. The knight was anEnglish Crusader, named Bisset, who had taken service with King Louis;the squires were Walter Espec and Guy Muschamp. All three, as theybecame aware of what had happened, crossed themselves and breathed aprayer for the souls of those who had gone to their account.
'We may as well ride on,'said Guy Muschamp, who, like his companions,was very much affected; 'all of them have perished, and are now beyondthe reach of human aid.'
'Not all of them,' exclaimed Walter Espec, suddenly, as he sprang fromhis horse, and, with out-stretched arm, pointed to a white object whichwas carried hither and thither by the waves.
'By the might of Henry, sir squire, you are right,' cried the Englishknight, highly excited; 'it is a woman, as I live, and she is clingingto one of the ship's timbers.'
'And she may yet be saved,' said Walter, calmly; 'and by the Holy Crossthe attempt must be made, if we are to escape the reproach of inhumanityand cowardice.'
And now the men, women, and children on the beach became much excited,and shouted loudly. No one, however, volunteered to go to the rescue. Infact, the aspect of the sea was so menacing and terrible, that theboldest and hardiest of the seafaring men felt that an attempt couldonly end in the destruction of those making it, and shook their headswith a significance there was no misunderstanding.
'It seems,' said the knight, mournfully, 'that the business isdesperate; and yet----'
'And yet,' said Walter, taking up the word as the knight hesitated andpaused, 'it shall never be told that a woman perished before my eyes,and that I stood looking on, without making an effort to save her.'
'He is mad,' muttered the fishermen, as they first eyed the Englishsquire, and then exchanged glances with each other, and shrugged theirshoulders.
But Walter Espec did not ponder or pause. Throwing his bridle-rein toGuy Muschamp, whose countenance expressed grave alarm, he quicklydivested himself of his mantle and the belt bearing his sword, committedhimself to the protection of Holy Katherine, the patron saint of hishouse, plunged into the water, and next moment was battling manfullywith the waves. But everything was against him, even the tide; and, inspite of his skill as a swimmer, his efforts were at first abortive. Butit was not his nature to yield easily; and, as he put forth all hisstrength, and made a desperate struggle, the affair began to wearanother face.
'Good Walter,' murmured Guy, who stood, pale as death, watching theswimmer. 'Brave Walter!'
'Now, may our lady, the Virgin, aid and prosper him,' exclaimed theknight. 'Never have I witnessed a bolder attempt.'
As the knight spoke, a loud cheer burst from the crowd; and then therewas silence. Walter drew nearer and nearer to the woman, for whose lifehe was freely venturing his own. In another minute he clutched her withone hand, turned towards the shore, and, favoured by the tide, camesailing towards the spot which the crowd occupied.
A dozen of the men dashed knee-deep into the water to relieve Walter ofhis burden; and as they did so, a dozen of the women stretched out theirhands, and received the still unconscious form of her who had beenrescued; meanwhile the knight and Guy Muschamp caught hold of Walter,who, fatigued and overcome with his almost superhuman exertions, wouldotherwise have fallen to the ground. However they laid him downcarefully to rest; and, while Guy stood watching over him, Bisset wentto look to the safety of the damsel who had been rescued.
'Sir squire,' said he, with enthusiasm, as he returned, 'you have doneas noble a deed as it has ever been my fate to witness, and the King ofFrance shall hear of it, as I am a living man; and,' continued he, in awhisper, 'hearken! you may at the same time congratulate yourself onhaving had the good luck to save a woman well worth saving.'
'What mean you, sir knight,' asked Walter, faintly.
'Simply this--that she is young, fair to behold, and evidently of highlineage.'