[Illustration: ANTIOCH.]
Everything favoured the treacherous project of the Armenian captain,
who, on his solitary watch-tower, received due intimation of the
approach of the Crusaders. The night was dark and stormy: not a star was
visible above; and the wind howled so furiously as to overpower all
other sounds. The rain fell in torrents, and the watchers on the towers
adjoining to that of Phirouz could not hear the tramp of the armed
knights for the wind, nor see them for the obscurity of the night and
the dismalness of the weather. When within bow-shot of the walls,
Bohemund sent forward an interpreter to confer with the Armenian. The
latter urged them to make haste and seize the favourable interval, as
armed men, with lighted torches, patrolled the battlements every
half-hour, and at that instant they had just passed. The chiefs were
instantly at the foot of the wall. Phirouz let down a rope; Bohemund
attached to it a ladder of hides, which was then raised by the Armenian,
and held while the knights mounted. A momentary fear came over the
spirits of the adventurers, and every one hesitated; at last Bohemund,
encouraged by Phirouz from above, ascended a few steps on the ladder,
and was followed by Godfrey, Count Robert of Flanders, and a number of
other knights.
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