Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/435

Rh emperor’s arrival before its walls. He determined, therefore, upon advancing boldly to meet the Christians on the open plain, where his wild horsemen might be made more available than they could be behind the ramparts of the town. He had, however, one great source of uneasiness in the presence of no less than 10,000 slaves within the place. Barbarossa dreaded that they would avail themselves of this critical juncture to rise and regain their freedom, unless he left a large force to guard them. This, under the circumstances, he did not feel able to afford. So, with the ruthless barbarity which had marked every step in his career, he proposed a general massacre of the whole body, as the quickest and safest method of overcoming the difficulty. To this sanguinary suggestion he encountered a strong opposition from all his partisans. The atrocious and cowardly brutality of the scheme was too great even for the piratical horde whom Barbarossa had assembled beneath his banner; added to which their interests were as much opposed to the measure as their humanity. The Jew Sinan was the owner of many of them, and several other leaders were in a similar position. They therefore resisted this suggestion for the wholesale destruction of their property so strenuously that Barbarossa was forced to abandon the idea, and to sally forth to meet the emperor, leaving the body of slaves as well guarded as his limited means permitted.

The action which ensued was hardly worthy of the name. Although the forces of Barbarossa far exceeded those of the emperor in point of numbers, they were not to be compared with the latter in discipline or steadiness. The very first onset decided the day, nor could the utmost efforts of the Algerine rally his flying battalions. The rout became general, and the usurper hastened to re-enter Tunis so as to take proper measures for its defence. Here he found that his original fears with regard to the Christian captives had proved well founded. As soon as they discovered the departure of the main force, they had risen on their guards, recovered their freedom, and seized upon the citadel, which they now held against the retreating Barbarossa. Amongst these captives was a knight of St. John, named Simeoni, the same who, in earlier youth,