Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/143

Rh upon the coast, and after a slender and desultory resistance on their part, effected his landing. By this prompt measure the open country fell, to a great extent, into his hands. Still, as the town of Rhodes remained in the possession of the Saracens, this occupation availed him but little, and it was easy to see that the most difficult part of his task remained undone so long as the banner of the crescent continued to wave over its ramparts. Hoping by a bold stroke to achieve a complete victory at once, he attempted to carry the town by storm, but in vain; the number and valour of the garrison, aided by the strength of the defences behind which they were fighting, more than counterbalanced the impetuous energy of the invaders, backed though they were by the veterans of the Hospital, and led on by the daring Villaret himself.

Many of the Saracens had, during the first moments of panic, embarked on board their galleys and put to sea. These, after a time, seeing that all was not lost, as they had at first imagined, returned to port and once again landed, thus aiding to swell the strength of the garrison. The emperor of Constantinople, also, as soon as he learnt that a descent on Rhodes had actually been effected, despatched an auxiliary force to assist in expelling the invaders. He entertained a hope that after he had defeated the intruders, he might probably succeed in regaining possession of the island for himself. Whilst these augmentations in the number of his foes were taking place, Villaret was doomed to witness a rapid diminution in the strength of his own forces. Many of the gallant spirits who in a moment of enthusiasm had joined the Crusade under the idea that its object was the expulsion of the Saracen from Palestine and the restoration of the kingdom of Jerusalem, found their ardour sensibly abating when they discovered that they were being called on to fight, not for the sacred object which had for centuries been an. incentive to the valour of Europe, but for the private advantage of an Order which, notwithstanding the numerous benefits it was daily conferring on Christendom, was by many regarded with jealousy and suspicion, if not with actual dislike. One by one these disappointed crusaders abandoned the enterprise, and stole away from the scene of a strife which was daily becoming more and more unpromising.