the English
army by the host assembled on the shores.

Acre had been besieged for two years, but in vain; and even the arrival
of the French army under Phillip Augustus had failed to turn the scale.
The inhabitants defended themselves with desperate bravery; every assault
upon the walls had been repulsed with immense slaughter; and at no great
distance off the Sultan Saladin, with a large army, was watching the
progress of the siege.

The fame of King Richard and the English was so great, however, that the
besiegers had little doubt that his arrival would change the position of
things; and even the French, in spite of the bad feeling which had
existed in Sicily, joined with the knights and army of the King of
Jerusalem in acclaiming the arrival of the English.

Phillip Augustus, the French King, was of a somewhat weak and wavering
disposition. It would have been thought that after his dispute with King
Richard he would have gladly done all in his power to carry Acre before
the arrival of his great rival. To the great disappointment of the
French, however, he declared that he would take no step in the general
assault until the arrival of Richard; and although the French had given
some assistance to the besiegers, the army had really remained passive
for many weeks.

Now, however, that the English had arrived, little time was lost; for the
moment the dissensions and jealousies between the monarchs were patched
up, the two hosts naturally imitated the example of their sovereigns, and
French and English worked side by side in throwing up trenches against
the walls, in building movable towers for the attack, and in preparing
for the great onslaught.

The French were the first to finish their preparations, and they
delivered a tremendous assault upon the walls. The besieged, however, did
not lose heart, and with the greatest bravery repulsed every attempt. The
scaling ladders were hurled backwards, the towers were destroyed by Greek
fire; boiling oil was hurled down upon the men who advanced under the
shelter of machines to undermine the walls; and after desperate fighting
the French fell back, baffled and beaten.

There was some quiet exultation in the English lines at the defeat of the
French, for they believed that a better fortune would crown their own
efforts. Such, however, to their surprise and mortification, was not the
case. When their preparations were completed, they attacked with splendid
bravery. They wer