f those who struggled for
mastery! To add to the tumult, in the heat of the fight, a spark falling
into the magazine of combustibles in the fortress, it blew up with a
tremendous explosion, drowning every other noise, and for a moment
stilling the combat. A cloud of smoke and vapor, rising into the air,
settled heavily, like a dark canopy, above St. Elmo. It seemed as if a
volcano had suddenly burst from the peaceful waters of the
Mediterranean, belching out volumes of fire and smoke, and shaking the
island to its centre!

The fight had lasted for some hours; and still the little band of
Christian warriors made good their stand against the overwhelming odds
of numbers. The sun had now risen high in the heavens, and as its rays
beat fiercely on the heads of the assailants, their impetuosity began to
slacken. At length, faint with heat and excessive toil, and many
staggering under wounds, it was with difficulty that the janizaries
could be brought back to the attack; and Mustapha saw with chagrin that
St. Elmo was not to be won that day. Soon after noon, he gave the signal
to retreat; and the Moslem host, drawing off under a galling fire from
the garrison, fell back in sullen silence into their trenches, as the
tiger, baffled in his expected prey, takes refuge from the spear of the
hunter in his jungle.[1319]

As the Turks withdrew, the garrison of St. Elmo raised a shout of
victory that reached across the waters, and was cheerily answered from
both St. Angelo and the town, whose inhabitants had watched with intense
interest the current of the fight, on the result of which their own fate
so much depended.

The number of Moslems who perished in the assault can only be
conjectured. But it must have been very large. That of the garrison is
stated as high as three hundred men. Of these, seventeen were knights of
the order. But the common soldier, it was observed, did his duty as
manfully throughout the day as the best knight by whose side he
fought.[1320] Few, if any, of the survivors escaped without wounds.
Suck as were badly injured were transferred at once to the town, and an
equal number of able-bodied troops sent to replace them, together with
supplies of ammunition, and materials for repairing, as far as possible,
the damage to the works. Among those who suffered most from their wounds
was the bailiff of Negropont. He obstinately refused to be removed to
the town; and when urged by La Valette to allow a substitute to