g. When they came near to the castle, it appeared almost
inaccessible. However Dames was resolved to make an attempt upon it.
Having found a place where the walls seemed easier to scale than
elsewhere, he sat down upon the ground, and ordered another to sit upon
his shoulders; and so on till seven of them had mounted up, each sitting
upon the other's shoulders, and all leaning against the wall, so as to
throw as much of their weight as possible upon it. Then he that was
uppermost of all stood upright upon the shoulders of the second, next
the second raised himself, and so on, all in order, till at last Dames
himself stood up, bearing the weight of all the rest upon his shoulders,
who however did all they could to relieve him by bearing against the
wall. By this means the uppermost man could just make a shift to reach
the top of the wall, while in an undertone they all cried, "O apostle of
God, help us and deliver us!" When this man had got up on the wall, he
found a watchman drunk and asleep. Seizing him hand and foot, he threw
him down among the Saracens, who immediately cut him to pieces. Two
other sentinels, whom he found in the same condition, he stabbed with
his dagger and threw down from the wall. He then let down his turban,
and drew up the second, they two the third, till at last Dames was drawn
up, who enjoined them to wait there in silence while he went and looked
about him. In this expedition he gained a sight of Youkinna, richly
dressed, sitting upon a tapestry of scarlet silk flowered with gold, and
a large company with him, eating and drinking, and very merry. On his
return he told his men that because of the great inequality of their
numbers, he did not think it advisable to fall upon them then, but had
rather wait till break of day, at which time they might look for help
from the main body. In the mean time he went alone, and privately
stabbing the sentinels, and setting open the gates, came back to his
men, and bade them hasten to take possession of the gates. This was not
done so quietly, but they were at last taken notice of and the castle
alarmed. There was no hope of escape for them, but everyone expected to
perish. Dames behaved himself bravely, but, overpowered by superior
numbers, he and his men were no longer able to hold up, when, as the
morning began to dawn, Kaled came to their relief. As soon as the
besieged perceived the Saracens rushing in upon them, they threw down
their arms, and cried, "Q