usual raids on Saracen territory; but then bring them back
immediately through the mountains on the right. I shall wait inside
the city for your return, ready to admit immediately into the towers
which seem to be under my control those whom you choose to send.
Bohemund eagerly hastened to carry out the plan he had heard;
summoning one of his retainers, he ordered him to carry out the
office of herald, circulating throughout the Franks' camp, telling
them to prepare themselves with the greatest care, as though they
were proceeding into the land of the Saracens. Without delay, the
wisdom of the servant carried out the command of the leader directly,
nor did the men of France refuse to comply. At last Bohemund told
the joy in his heart to duke Godfrey, to the count of Flanders, to
the count of Saint-Gilles, and to the bishop of Puy; trusting the
promises of Pyrrus, he said that Antioch would be surrendered to him
that night. Therefore, when the army was drawn up in the order we
have described, the knights were ordered to march through the plain;
the band of foot-soldiers marched through the mountains. Throughout
the night they marched, and before dawn offered its first rays, they
stood before the towers over which the blessed traitor vigilantly
stood watch.

When Bohemund got down from his horse, he spoke to the Franks with a
tone of unusual authority, "Go forward, and breathe free of the
anxiety which you have long endured; climb the ladder built for you;
let me detain you no longer--seize the city you have been hoping for
so long. Long under subjection to the Turks, it will now surrender,
God willing, to your custody." The Franks reached the ladder, which
was attached and very firmly tied to the walls of the city, offering
a way to ascend to the sixty men who, when they reached the towers,
were given authority over them. However, because so few Franks had