all the buildings and walls, and to chop
down every tree."

"If they were to plant their cannon on the hills they would do us much
harm," Gervaise remarked.

"The Turks are clumsy gunners they say," Deauville replied, "and they
would but waste their powder and ball at that distance, without making a
breach in our walls."

"Even if they did, they could surely scarce pass that deep fosse,"
Gervaise said, looking down into the tremendous cutting in the solid
rock that ran round the whole circuit of the walls; it was from forty
to sixty feet deep, and from ninety to a hundred and forty feet wide. It
was from this great cutting that the stones for the construction of the
walls, towers, and buildings of the town had been taken, the work having
been going on ever since the knights established themselves at Rhodes,
and being performed by a host of captives taken in war, together with
labour hired from neighboring islands. Upon this immense work the Order
had expended no small proportion of their revenue since their capture
of the island in 1310, and the result was a fortress that, under the
conditions of warfare of that age, seemed almost impregnable; and this
without any natural advantage of position.

In addition to the five great towers or bastions, the wall was
strengthened by square towers at short intervals. On looking down from
the wall upon which the three pages were standing, on to the lower town,
the view was a singular one. The houses were all built of stone, with
flat roofs, after the manner of most Eastern cities. The streets were
very narrow, and were crossed at frequent intervals by broad stone
arches. These had the effect, not only of giving shelter from an enemy's
fire, but of affording means by which troops could march rapidly across
the town upon the roofs of the houses to reinforce the defenders of the
wall, wherever pressed by the enemy. Thus the town from above presented
the appearance of a great pavement, broken only by dark and frequently
interrupted lines.

"How different to the towns at home!" Gervaise exclaimed, as, after
gazing long upon the beautiful country outside the walls, he turned and
looked inward. "One would hardly know that it was a town at all."

"Yes, it is rather different to the view from the top of the tower of
Notre Dame, which I ascended while I was staying in Paris. But this sort
of building is best here; the thickness of the stone roofs keeps out
the heat of the sun, and it