within a short distance of the enemy, upon whom the crusaders fell with
the force of a thunderbolt, and cleft their way through their lines.
After a short pause in the little town, they prepared to again cut their
way through, joined by the party who had there been besieged. The task
was now however, far more difficult; for the footmen would be unable to
keep up with the rapid charge of the knights, and it was necessary not
only to clear the way, but to keep it open for their exit. King Richard
himself and the greater portion of his knights were to lead the charge;
another party were to follow behind the footmen, who were ordered to
advance at the greatest speed of which they were capable, while their
rearguard by charges upon the enemy, kept them at bay. To this latter
party Cuthbert was attached.

The Saracens followed their usual tactics, and this time with great
success. Dividing as the king with his knights charged them, they
suffered these to pass through with but slight resistance, and then
closed in upon their track, while another and still more numerous body
fell upon the footmen and their guard. Again and again did the knights
charge through the ranks of the Moslems, while the billmen stoutly kept
together and resisted the onslaughts of the enemy's cavalry. In spite of
their bravery, however, the storm of arrows shot by the desert horsemen
thinned their ranks with terrible rapidity. Charging up to the very point
of the spears, these wild horsemen fired their arrows into the faces of
their foe, and although numbers of them fell beneath the more formidable
missiles sent by the English archers, their numbers were so overwhelming
that the little band melted away. The small party of knights, too, were
rapidly thinned, although performing prodigious deeds of valour. The
Saracens when dismounted or wounded still fought on foot, their object
being always to stab or hough the horses, and so dismount the riders.
King Richard and his force, though making the most desperate efforts to