Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/274

246 at oratorical display, he appealed with such earnest simplicity to the chivalry still existing in every knightly bosom, that it is not surprising to read that his call was responded to from every priory in Europe. Not only members of the Order, but numbers of others, knights anti simple soldiers, crowded to the scene of the coming struggle. Although they were to serve under a banner to which they owed no allegiance, other than in so far as it was the emblem of Christian warfare against the infidel, they came, hoping to win renown for themselves and to aid in the defeat of the common enemy. The gallant heart of D’Aubusson was gladdened at the constant arrival of these welcome additions to his strength, comprising, as they did, some of the noblest names in Europe. Foremost amongst them was his eldest brother, the viscount de Monteuil, who, at the head of a considerable body of retainers, volunteered his services at this crisis. He was, by the unanimous voice of the council, elected to the post of captain-general, which he promptly accepted, and in which he did knightly service under the supreme command of his younger brother.

Whilst the knights were thus preparing themselves at oil points to meet their enemy, Mahomet, disappointed at perceiving that his designs had been fathomed, determined, if possible, to blind the fraternity to the imminence of its danger. With this idea he directed his son, Djem or Zisim, in conjunction with his nephew, Tcbélébi, to submit to the Grand-Master proposals for a peace. In this project the sultan had two objects in view. On the one hand, he hoped to lure the knights into a false sense of security; and on the other he trusted, by the selection of a fitting agent, to combine the services of a spy with those of an envoy. Under his direction the princes chose for the purpose a renegade Greek, who, on the capture of his native island of Eubea, by the Turks, had embraced Islamism in the hope of bettering his fortunes. This man, whose name was Demetrius Sophiano, possessed all the cunning and aptitude for intrigue which have ever been the characteristics of his race. He had often proved himself a most valuable tool in the hands of his new employer. In matters of diplomacy, however, Mahomet had in