remains of his once brilliant army; and when Walter Espec, penniless and
pensive, but still hoping to hear tidings of his lost brother, leapt
ashore with Bisset the English knight, and returned thanks to heaven for
having escaped from the power of the Saracens and the perils of the sea.

'Sir knight,' said Walter, who was in a desponding mood, 'we have now,
thanks be to God reached a place of safety; and yet, beshrew me if my
heart does not fail me; for we are in a strange land, without money,
without horses, almost without raiment befitting our rank.'

'In truth,' replied the knight, 'I own that our plight is not enviable.
But it is not desperate. Still I am in the service of King Louis, and
have claims which he cannot disregard; and, credit me, a king's name is
a tower of strength. As for you, for lack of a more potent protector,
attach yourself to me as squire, and we can struggle together against
adverse fortune. So droop not, but take courage, my brave Englishman;
and we will, with the aid of God and our lady, so contrive to make the
best of our circumstances as to turn matters to our advantage.'

CHAPTER XXXIV.

A RESCUE.

WALTER Espec, albeit since leaving England he had enacted the part of
squire to two of the foremost earls in Christendom, was too much in need
of a protector not to accept Bisset's offer with gratitude; and the
English knight exercised his influence with such effect that both of
them were soon provided with horses and raiment befitting their rank,
and made a creditable figure among the Crusaders who thronged Acre.
Indeed Walter, having now quite recovered from his illness, attracted
much notice, and won the reputation of being one of the handsomest
Englishmen who had ever appeared in the Syrian city.

Nevertheless, Walter was gloomy and despondent. All his enquiries after
Osbert, his lost brother, resulted in disappointment. Guy Muschamp he
regarded as one to be numbered with the dead; and Adeline de Brienne,
who since their unexpected meeting at Damietta, where in days of dismay
and danger they had conversed on equal terms, was now, as the
grand-daughter of a King of Jerusalem, treated as a princess, and moved
in too high a sphere to be approached by a simple squire. At first he
was astonished to find that they were separated by so wide a gulf, and
the Espec pride made him almost disdainful. Still, the fair demoiselle
was present in all his visions by day and his dreams by night;