im of the cavalier,
and put to death every man whom they found. Profiting by their advantage,
the Turks dashed over the bridge connecting the cavalier with the fort;
here, however, they were met by Sergeant-Major Guerare and a handful of
soldiers aroused by him. These men were instantly succoured by the
Chevaliers de Vercoyran and de Medran, who were immediately followed by the
Bailli of Negropont and several other Knights. An obstinate hand-to-hand
combat now ensued; fresh Turks came up to the attack, but were mown down in
swathes by an enfilading fire from two cannons which the defenders of the
fort managed to bring to bear upon them. More pioneers arrived from the
trenches, carrying planks and sacks filled with wool. These men tried to
effect a permanent lodgment, but the fire was too hot on the Christian
side, and men fell in hundreds. Nothing daunted, the Turks reared their
scaling-ladders against the sides of the fortress itself, and attempted to
scale the walls; but for this the ladders were too short, and the
assailants were hurled back into the ditch. This attack, in which the
Turkish arms were rewarded by the capture of the ravelin behind the
cavalier, is said to have cost them the lives of three thousand men. It
lasted from daybreak until midday.

On the side of the Christians twenty Knights and one hundred soldiers were
slain; but worst of all, from their point of view, the ravelin remained in
the hands of their enemies. The chevalier Abel de Bridiers de la Gardampe
having received a ball through his body, some of his comrades ran to place
him under cover. "Count me no longer among the living," said the Knight.
"You will be better employed in defending the rest of our brethren." He
then, unassisted, dragged himself to the foot of the altar in the chapel,
where his dead body was discovered when all was over.

So far communication remained established between St. Elmo and their
comrades in Il Borgo on the opposite side of the harbour; in consequence
the wounded were removed and their places taken by one hundred fresh men
under the Chevalier Vagnon. To the Bailli of Negropont and the Commandeur
Broglio, La Valette sent a message to return to Il Borgo. These gallant and
aged veterans, both of whom were wounded, whose faces were scorched by the
sun and blackened with powder, whose bodies were well-nigh worn out with
perpetual vigil and hand-to-hand fighting, refused stoutly to quit their
post, which now was naugh