Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/467

Rh slender force, and to retreat into the fort. The wind, which at the time was southerly, had blown the smoke in the direction of St. Elmo, and concealed the movements of the Turks from the view of the garrison. To their dismay they perceived, when it had cleared away, that the besiegers had advanced unnoticed, and taken possession of the covered way, within which they were busily engaged entrenching themselves. A heavy fire was at once opened on them, but in vain; the covered way was lost, and from that time became included in the Turkish lines, which were thus brought close to the walls.

A few days later a gross act of carelessness on the part of the besieged caused the loss of the ravelin itself. Some Turkish engineers were engaged, under cover of the night, in making a reconnoissance from the ditch, to which they were able to gain access after the covered way had fallen into their possession. Anxious to discover the strength of the ravelin, one of their number had the hardihood to climb into an embrasure, trusting, in the darkness of the night, to elude the vigilance of the sentries. To his amazement, he found the work apparently untenanted, and certainly unguarded. It has never been clearly understood whence this carelessness arose. Some assert that the sentries, exhausted with the work of the day, were asleep; others, again, suggest that the one in the salient had been killed by a shot, and that the casualty had not been observed by the guard. Be this as it may, the result was most disastrous. The engineer instantly hastened back to camp, informed Mustapha of what he had discovered, and offered to lead a party to the attack of the unprotected ravelin. A chosen band of janissaries was quickly assembled, and, guided by the engineer, stole silently into the work. The defenders were taken completely by surprise, and unable to offer any effective resistance. Driven back by the fierce onset of the janissaries, and their commander slain, they were forced to seek refuge in the fort, whither they were hotly pursued by the Turks. But for the heroic efforts of one of the Spanish officers, of a junior grade, who, standing at the entrance of the drawbridge, withstood for some moments almost single-handed the rush of the enemy, and maintained his post, until he was supported from within, like Horatius in the Roman story, St.