n one of the vessels, had been
driven by stress of weather into the port of Limisso. The fiery monarch
swore to be revenged, and, collecting all his vessels, sailed back to
Limisso. Isaac Comnenus refused to apologise or explain, and Richard, in
no mood to be trifled with, landed on the island, routed with great loss
the forces sent to oppose him, and laid the whole country under
contribution.

[Illustration: RICHARD I. AND BERENGARIA.]

On his arrival at Acre he found the whole of the chivalry of Europe there
before him. Guy of Lusignan, the king of Jerusalem, had long before
collected the bold Knights of the Temple, the Hospital, and St. John, and
had laid siege to Acre, which was resolutely defended by the Sultan
Saladin, with an army magnificent both for its numbers and its discipline.
For nearly two years the Crusaders had pushed the siege, and made efforts
almost superhuman to dislodge the enemy. Various battles had taken place
in the open fields with no decisive advantage to either party, and Guy of
Lusignan had begun to despair of taking that strong position without aid
from Europe. His joy was extreme on the arrival of Philip with all his
chivalry, and he only awaited the coming of Coeur de Lion to make one last
decisive attack upon the town. When the fleet of England was first seen
approaching the shores of Syria, a universal shout arose from the
Christian camp; and when Richard landed with his train, one louder still
pierced to the very mountains of the south, where Saladin lay with all his
army.

It may be remarked as characteristic of this Crusade, that the Christians
and the Moslems no longer looked upon each other as barbarians, to whom
mercy was a crime. Each host entertained the highest admiration for the
bravery and magnanimity of the other, and, in their occasional truces, met
upon the most friendly terms. The Moslem warriors were full of courtesy to
the Christian knights, and had no other regret than to think that such
fine fellows were not Mahomedans. The Christians, with a feeling precisely
similar, extolled to the skies the nobleness of the Saracens, and sighed
to think that such generosity and valour should be sullied by disbelief in
the Gospel of Jesus. But when the strife began, all these feelings
disappeared, and the struggle became mortal.

The jealousy excited in the mind of Philip by the events of Messina still
rankled, and the two monarchs refused to act in concert. Instead of making
a