s were fast sinking into utter despair.
Discipline had well-nigh come to an end, and so obstinate was their
refusal to bear arms any longer that Bohemond resolved to burn them out
of their quarters. These were consumed by the flames, which spread so
rapidly as to fill him with fear that he had destroyed, not only their
dwellings, but his whole principality. His experiment brought the men
back to their duty; but so despondingly was their work done that but for
some signal succor the end, it was manifest, must soon come. In a
credulous age such succor at the darkest hour, if obtained at all, will
generally be obtained through miracle. A Lombard priest came forward, to
whom St. Ambrose of Milan had declared in a vision that the third year
of the crusade should see the conquest of Jerusalem; another had seen
the Saviour himself, attended by his Virgin Mother and the Prince of the
Apostles, had heard from his lips a stern rebuke of the crusaders for
yielding to the seductions of pagan women--as if the profession of
Christianity altered the color and the guilt of a vice--and lastly had
received the distinct assurance that in five days they should have the
help which they needed.

The hopes of the crusaders were roused; with hope came a return of
vigorous energy; and Peter Barthelemy, chaplain to Raymond of Toulouse,
seized the opportunity for recounting a vision which was to be something
more than a dream. To him St. Andrew had revealed the fact that in the
Church of St. Peter lay hidden the steel head of the spear which had
pierced the side of the Redeemer as he hung upon the cross; and that
Holy Lance should win them victory over all their enemies as surely as
the spear which imparted irresistible power to the Knight of the
Sangreal. After two days of special devotion they were to search for the
long-lost weapon; on the third day the workmen began to dig, but until
the sun had set they toiled in vain. The darkness of night made it
easier for the chaplain to play the part which Sir Walter Scott, in the
_Antiquary_, assigns to Herman Dousterswivel in the ruins of St. Ruth.
Barefooted and with a single garment the priest went down into the pit.
For a time the strokes of his spade were heard, and then the sacred
relic was found, carefully wrapped in a veil of silk and gold. The
priest proclaimed his discovery; the people rushed into the church; and
from the church throughout the city spread the flame of a fierce
enthusiasm.