d less damage upon the
fleet than was at first feared.

Two days' sail brought them within sight of the white walls of Acre, and
it was on June 8, 1191, that the fleet sailed into the port of that
town. Tremendous acclamations greeted the arrival of 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 Philip 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.

Philip 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 backward, 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 d