with the cause to which it was consecrated; and they
avowed their determination to shed the last drop of their blood in
defence of the post intrusted to them. The younger brethren were not so
easily reconciled to the decision of their superiors. To remain there
longer was a wanton sacrifice of life, they said. They were penned up
in the fort, like sheep, tamely waiting to be devoured by the fierce
wolves that were thirsting for their blood. This they could not endure;
and, if the grand-master did not send to take them off at once, they
would sally out against the enemy, and find an honorable death on the
field of battle. A letter signed by fifty of the knights, expressing
their determination, was accordingly despatched by one of their number
to Il Borgo.

La Valette received the communication with feelings in which sorrow was
mingled with indignation. It was not enough, he said, for them to die
the honorable death which they so much coveted. They must die in the
manner he prescribed. They were bound to obey his commands. He reminded
them of the vows taken at the time of their profession, and the
obligation of every loyal knight to sacrifice his life, if necessary,
for the good of the order. Nor would they gain anything, he added, by
abandoning their post and returning to the town. The Turkish army would
soon be at its gates, and the viceroy of Sicily would leave them to
their fate.

That he might not appear, however, to pass too lightly by their
remonstrances, La Valette determined to send three commissioners to
inspect St. Elmo, and report on its condition. This would at least have
the advantage of gaining time, when every hour gained was of importance.
He also sent to Sicily to remonstrate on the tardiness of the viceroy's
movements, and to urge the necessity of immediate succors if he would
save the castle.

The commissioners were received with joy by the refractory knights, whom
they found so intent on their departure that they were already beginning
to throw the shot into the wells, to prevent its falling into the hands
of the Turks. They eagerly showed the commissioners every part of the
works, the ruinous condition of which, indeed, spoke more forcibly than
the murmurs of the garrison. Two of the body adopted the views of the
disaffected party, and pronounced the fort no longer tenable. But the
third, an Italian cavalier, named Castriot, was of a different way of
thinking. The fortifications, he admitted, were