Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-12-17
rom the Prince Of India.


The silence into which the Turkish
host was sunk did not continue q
great while The Greeks on the land
ward walls became aware Of a gen.
eral murmur, followed shortly by q
rumble at times vibrant-so the eartn
complains of the beating 1t receives
when vast bodies Of men and animals
are in hurried passage.
The enemy is forming" said John
Grant to his associate Carystos, the
archer.
Minotle, the Venetian bayle, listen
ing from the shattered gate at Adri-
nople, gave the order: Arouse the
men. The Turks are coming"
.Justiniani, putting the finishing
touches upon his masked repairs be-
hind what had been the alley or pass
age between the towers Of Bagdad and
st. Roman, was called to by his look
out: Come up, captain-the infidels
are stirring-they seem disposed to
attack"
NO" the captain returned, after a
brief observation, they will not at
tack tonight-they are getting ready
None the less, without relieving his
working parties, he placed his COM
mand in station.
At Selimbria and the Golden Gate
the Christians stood to arms. So also
between the gates. Then a deep hush
descended upon the mighty works
mighty despite the slugging they had
endured-and the silence was loaded
with anxiety.
The earth in its forward movement
overlook the moon just before day
break; then in the deep hush OF ex-
pectancy and readiness, the light being
sufficient to reveal to the besieged the
assault couchant below them, long
blown flourish was sounded by the
Turkish heralds from the embrasure
Of the great gun.
Other trumpeters took up the sig
nal and in a space incredibly short II
was repeated everywhere along the
line Of attack. A thunder OF drums
broke in upon the music. Up rose the
hordes, the archers and singers, and
the ladder bearers, and forward, like
a bristling wave they rushed, shout
ing every man as he pleased. In the
same instant the machines and light
guns were set in operation. Never had
the old walls been assailed by such
a tempest Of bolts, arrows, stones and
bullets-never had their echoes beer
awakened by an equal explosion OF hu'
man voices, instruments Of material
music and cannon.
The wardens were not surprised by
the assault so much as by its din and
fury; and when directly the missiles
struck them, thickened into an unin-
terrupted pouring rain, they covered
behind the merlions and such other
shelters as they could find.
This did not last long-it was like
the shiver and gasp Of one plunged
suddenly into icy water. The fugi-
tives were rallied and brought back to
their weapons, and to replying in kind
and having no longer to shoot with
care, the rabble fusing into compact
target, especially on the outer edge OF
the ditch, not a shaft or bolt or stone
or ball from culverin went amiss'
after while, their blood warming with
the work, and the dawn breaking,
they could see their advantage Of po-
sition and the awful havoc they were
playing; then they too knew the de-
light in killing, which more than any
thing else, proves man the most fero-
cious Of brutes.
The movement Of the hordes was not
a dash wholly without system-such
an inference would be a great mis-
take. There was no pretence OF
alignment or order. There never is in
such attacks-forlorn hopes, receiving
the signal, rush on: each individual
to his own endeavor; here, neverthe-
less, the pashas and beys directed the
assault, permitting no blind waste OF
effort. They hurled their mobs at none
but the weak places-here a breach,
there a dismantled gate.
Thousands were pushed headlong in
to the moat. The ladders then passed
down to such Of them as had footing
were heavy but they were caught
willingly; If too short, were spliced;
once planted so as to bring the coping
Of the wall in reach, they swarmed
with eager adventures, who, holding
their shields and pixies overhead,
climbed as best they could. Those
below cheered their comrades above
and even pushed them up.
The spoils-think of the spoils-
the gold, the women! Allah-il-Allah!
Up, up-it is the way to paradise"
Darts and javelins literally cast the
climbers in a thickened shade. Some
times a ponderous stone plunging
down cleaned a ladder from top to
bottom; sometimes, waiting until the
rounds were filled, the besieged ap-
piled levers and swung a score and
more off helpless and shrieking. No
IUdlleT-AlldH-ll-< <Alldh. hS hfAAAo
were swift to restore and attempt the
fatal ascents.
Everyone dead and everyone wound
ed became a serviceable clod; rapidly
as the dump and comber, Of humanity
filled the moat the ladders extended
their upward reach; while drum beat,
battle cry, trumpets blare and the roar
Of cannon answering cannon, blent
into one steady all-smothering sound.
All this Justiniani had foreseen. Be-
hind loose stones OH top Of the hill he
had collected culverins, making, in
modern phrase, a masked battery. and
trained the pieces to sweep the cause
way; with them, as a support, he
mixed archers and pikemen. On either
flank, moreover, he stationed COM
panies similarly armed, extending
them to the unbroken wall, so there
was not a space in the breach unde-
Tended.
The captain, on watch and expect
ant, heard the signal.
ITO the emperor at Blacherne," he
bade, "and say the storm is about to
break. Make haste" Then to his men:
Light the matches and be ready to
throw the stones down."
The hordesmen reached the edge OF
the ditch; that moment the guns were
unmasked and the Genoese leader
shouted: Fire, my men! Christ and