e to the aid of Antioch. When these fresh alarms spread
through the camp, Bohemond returned to the charge, saying, "Time presses;
and if ye accept the overtures made to us, to-morrow Antioch will be
ours, and we shall march in triumph on Jerusalem. If any find a better
way of assuring our success, I am ready to accept it and renounce, on my
own account, all conquest." Raymond still persisted in his opposition;
but all the other chiefs submitted to the overtures and conditions of
Bohemond. All proper measures were taken, and Emir-Fein, being apprised
thereof, had Bohemond informed that on the following night everything
would be ready. At the appointed hour three-score warriors, with
Bohemond at their head, repaired noiselessly to the foot of the tower
indicated; a ladder was hoisted and Emir-Feir fastened it firmly to the
top of the wall. Bohemond looked round and round, but no one was in a
hurry to mount. Bohemond, therefore, himself mounted; and, having
received recognition from Emir-Fein, he leaned upon the ramparts, called
in a low voice to his comrades, and rapidly re-descended to reassure them
and get them to mount with him. Up they mount; that and two other
neighboring towers are given up to them; the three gates are opened, and
the crusaders rush in. When day appeared, on the 3d of June, 1098, the
streets of Antioch were full of corpses; for the Turks, surprised, had
been slaughtered without resistance or had fled into the country. The
citadel, filled with those who had been able to take refuge there, still
held out; but the entire city was in the power of the crusaders, and the
banner of Bohemond floated on an elevated spot over against the citadel.

In spite of their triumph the crusaders were not so near marching on
Jerusalem as Bohemond had promised. Everywhere, throughout Syria and
Mesopotamia, the Mussulmans were rising to go and deliver Antioch; an
immense army was already in motion; there were eleven hundred thousand
men according to Matthew of Edessa, six hundred and sixty thousand
according to Foucher of Chartres, three hundred thousand according to
Raoul of Caen, and only two hundred thousand according to William of Tyre
and Albert of Aix. The discrepancy in the figures is a sufficient proof
of their untruthfulness. The last number was enough to disquiet the
crusaders, already much reduced by so many marches, battles, sufferings,
and desertions. An old Mussulman warrior, celebrated at that