Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/500

466 and whilst it was paralysing the defence the assailants made their onset. When the dense smoke caused by the explosion had cleared away, the Turks were masters of the post. The alarm spread instantly, and the great bell of the conventual church pealed forth to notify the peril. A terrified priest, rushing into the presence of La Valette, besought him to take refuge in the castle of St. Angelo, as the Bourg was irretrievably lost. All was fear and confusion, and but for the presence of mind displayed by the Grand-Master at that critical moment the place must have fallen. Instead of following the advice of the priest La Valette seized a pike and rushed to the scene of action, calling upon his brethren to die manfully where they stood. A desperate encounter ensued, in which the Grand-Master was wounded, but he succeeded in attaining his object; the breach was re-taken and cleared of the enemy.

The catastrophe thus averted had been so imminent, and appeared so likely to threaten them again, that La Valette determined upon taking up his quarters permanently close to the exposed bastion. In vain his knights remonstrated with him; in vain they pointed out the inestimable value of his life to the defence; he persisted in his determination, and the result proved that he was right. That same night the Turks renewed the attack, and then the spirit inspired amongst the besieged by his presence materially aided them in successfully resisting it. The 19th, 20th, and 21st each beheld an assault upon some point, and, although on every occasion it failed, the steadily reducing numbers of the garrison proved clearly that they would be unable to sustain many more such efforts. Scarce a knight of that little band remained unwounded, and La Valette was each day called on to mourn the death of some one whose gallantry had endeared him to the hearts of his comrades. Nor was he spared the pang of a nearer loss. His own nephew, Parisot de la Valette, was struck down during a daring sortie, which he had led, in company with another knight named Polastron, who was also killed. It was only after a long and fiercely-contested struggle that their comrades succeeded in rescuing the corpses. La Valette himself was an eye-witness of the scene, and rejected all attempts at condolence by assuring his hearers that the whole fraternity