o my eye. I saw Lord Raymond on his charger; a small company of officers
had gathered about him; and behind was a promiscuous concourse of soldiers
and subalterns, their discipline lost, their arms thrown aside; no music
sounded, no banners streamed. The only flag among them was one which
Raymond carried; he pointed with it to the gate of the city. The circle
round him fell back. With angry gestures he leapt from his horse, and
seizing a hatchet that hung from his saddle-bow, went with the apparent
intention of battering down the opposing gate. A few men came to aid him;
their numbers increased; under their united blows the obstacle was
vanquished, gate, portcullis, and fence were demolished; and the wide
sun-lit way, leading to the heart of the city, now lay open before them.
The men shrank back; they seemed afraid of what they had already done, and
stood as if they expected some Mighty Phantom to stalk in offended majesty
from the opening. Raymond sprung lightly on his horse, grasped the
standard, and with words which I could not hear (but his gestures, being
their fit accompaniment, were marked by passionate energy,) he seemed to
adjure their assistance and companionship; even as he spoke, the crowd
receded from him. Indignation now transported him; his words I guessed were
fraught with disdain--then turning from his coward followers, he
addressed himself to enter the city alone. His very horse seemed to back
from the fatal entrance; his dog, his faithful dog, lay moaning and
supplicating in his path--in a moment more, he had plunged the rowels
into the sides of the stung animal, who bounded forward, and he, the
gateway passed, was galloping up the broad and desart street.

Until this moment my soul had been in my eyes only. I had gazed with
wonder, mixed with fear and enthusiasm. The latter feeling now
predominated. I forgot the distance between us: "I will go with thee,
Raymond!" I cried; but, my eye removed from the glass, I could scarce
discern the pigmy forms of the crowd, which about a mile from me surrounded
the gate; the form of Raymond was lost. Stung with impatience, I urged my
horse with force of spur and loosened reins down the acclivity, that,
before danger could arrive, I might be at the side of my noble, godlike
friend. A number of buildings and trees intervened, when I had reached the
plain, hiding the city from my view. But at that moment a crash was heard.
Thunderlike it reverberated through the sky,