Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/479

Rh and mortally wounded. By dint of perseverance the line was at length finished, and on the 19th of the month the investment was completed, and the garrison of St. Elmo cut off from all further reinforcement.

For three days more, viz., the 19th, 20th, and 21st June, an incessant fire was kept up from thirty-six guns, which were now mounted in the various Turkish batteries. Had the ramparts been constructed entirely of masonry, they would have been almost swept away by the effect of this overwhelming fire, but in many parts they were formed in the solid rock of which the peninsula is composed, and these portions withstood the battering they received. For the same reason no mining operations were practicable, and thus the knights were spared the additional dread of having to contend against an invisible foe.

With the earliest dawn on the 22nd, a fresh assault burst upon St. Elmo. Exhausted as its defenders were with constant watching, short of ammunition, and exposed on their ruined ramparts to the deadly fire of the Turkish arquebusiers, they still met the foe with the same indomitable resolution as before. Three times was the attempt renewed, and as often successfully repulsed, but on each occasion that gallant little band became still further reduced, and the prospect of continued resistance more and more hopeless. In breathless suspense La Valette, from his post of observation, watched the scene of strife, and great was his exultation when once again he heard the sound of retreat issuing from the midst of the Turkish host. Again had the Moslem recoiled in defeat from that blood-stained rock. Still was the White Cross banner waving defiantly from its summit, and the slender relics of its noble garrison once again raised a feeble shout of victory. It was, however, their last expiring effort. Begirt by foes on every side, cut off from all support or aid, and reduced to little more than half their original number, they felt that their last triumph had been gained, and that the morrow’s sun would see the standard of the infidel waving over the ruins of St. Elmo.

In this desperate emergency an expert swimmer contrived to carry a message to La Valette, conveying intelligence, of the truth of which he was, alas! too well assured. All that human effort could accomplish had been done to save that vital point.