nal to where the Saracens were encamped.

'Sire,' answered one of his knights, 'it is Fakreddin, the emir, who
fled from Damietta; but who, nevertheless, as I learn, does not hesitate
to boast that it is his intention to dine in your red tent on St.
Sebastian's-day.'

'Does the emir intend to dine in my tent on St. Sebastian's-day?' said
Louis, mildly; 'however, I will take good care to prevent him.'

'In truth, sire,' said the knight, smiling, 'I hold that you are much
more likely to dine in the sultan's palace.'

'Be that as it may,' replied the king, 'one thing is certain. We and our
foes are now face to face.'

And so they were. Face to face, separated only by the canal Achmoun,
Christian and Moslem, headed by the King of France and the Emir
Fakreddin, lay encamped and awaiting a favourable opportunity to fight,
and to conquer or die for their countries and religions.

And it speedily appeared that face to face they were for some time
likely to remain.

CHAPTER XVIII.

DELAY AND DANGER.

IT was January 1250, and King Louis, at the head of the Crusaders, was
still on the banks of the Achmoun. But it was not from reluctance to
prosecute their enterprise that the armed pilgrims submitted to delay.
The aspect of the country through which they had passed on their way
from Damietta had not been such as to diminish their ambition to be
conquerors. It cannot be doubted that the fertility of the land of the
Pharaohs must have made them more and more eager to become its masters.

In truth, there cannot be a more delightful sight than Egypt at either
of two seasons of the year. Ascend some mountain in the month of July or
August, when the Nile has risen, and you behold a vast sea, in which
appear numerous towns and villages, with causeways leading from place to
place, the whole interspersed with groves and fruit-trees, of which the
tops are only visible, and bounded by woods and mountains. But it is the
peculiarity of the Nile, unlike other rivers, which, in overflowing
lands, wash away and exhaust their vivific moisture, that its waters
serve to fatten and enrich the soil. Accordingly, ascend the same
mountain in January or February, when the waters have subsided and the
husbandman has done his work, and the country is like one beautiful
meadow, dotted with flocks and herds, covered with crops of corn,
enamelled with flowers, and perfumed with the blossoms of oranges and
lemons.

Nor, considering the mar