Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/75

Saladin, foiled in his attempt on Acre, had turned his arms against Tiberias, a city of which Raymond, count of Tripoli, was lord in right of his wife. That prince had become reconciled to Guy, feeling that the dangers surrounding the kingdom were too grave to permit the indulgence of private animosity. On hearing of the attack on Tiberias, he magnanimously advised the king to leave the city to its fate, urging him to take up a strictly defensive line of action. He pointed out that the Saracen army could not long maintain itself in the district owing to the scarcity of water. Other and less sagacious counsels, however, prevailed, and the king, collecting all his available forces, marched in the direction of Tiberias, determined to stake everything on the issue of a single battle. Evil and ill-judged advice was taken in connection with every step. A spot was selected for encampment which the total absence of water soon rendered untenable. The army now began to feel the ill-effects of that drought which Raymond had prophesied would have overcome the Moslems had they been left to themselves. Finding it impossible to remain where he was, Lusignan advanced into the plain of Tiberias to give battle to the enemy. The most powerful efforts were made by the ecclesiastics who acoompanied the army to arouse the enthusiasm of the soldiery. The piece of the true cross which had been so long preserved at Jerusalem for the veneration of the pious had been brought with them, and intrusted to the special guardianship of the military Orders. It was on this eventful occasion planted on an eminence, where throughout the day it served as a rallying point to the Christians. The main reason for which the king had decided on giving battle was the want of water, and so his first efforts were directed to supply the deficiency. The lake of Tiberias, at a distance of two miles, lay glittering in the sunshine in rear of the Saracens, and between it and the Christians, now parched with thirst, were drawn up the dense masses with which Saladin was prepared to resist their advance. In the van of the army stood the forces of the Hospital and Temple, ready at the appointed signal to rush at the foe and to hew a pathway to the much longed-for water. When the desired moment arrived on they dashed, and were at once lost to view in the mass of opponents by whom they were surrounded.