ntermitting fire on the tottering ramparts of the fortress. This was
accompanied by false alarms, and by night attacks, in which the flaming
missiles, as they shot through the air, cast a momentary glare over the
waters, that showed the dark outlines of St. Elmo towering in ruined
majesty above the scene of desolation. The artillery-men of St. Angelo,
in the obscurity of the night, were guided in their aim by the light of
the enemy's fireworks.[1322] These attacks were made by the Turks, not
so much in the expectation of carrying the fort, though they were often
attended with a considerable loss of life, as for the purpose of wearing
out the strength of the garrison. And dreary indeed was the condition of
the latter: fighting by day, toiling through the livelong night to
repair the ravages in the works, they had no power to take either the
rest or the nourishment necessary to recruit their exhausted strength.
To all this was now to be added a feeling of deeper despondency, as they
saw the iron band closing around them which was to sever them for ever
from their friends.

On the eighteenth of the month, the work of investment was completed,
and the extremity of the lines was garnished with a redoubt mounting two
large guns, which, with the musketry from the trenches, would sweep the
landing-place, and effectually cut off any further supplies from the
other side of the harbor. Thus left to their own resources, the days of
the garrison were numbered.

La Valette, who had anxiously witnessed these operations of the enemy,
had done all he could to retard them, by firing incessantly on the
laborers in the hope of driving them from the trenches. When the work
was completed, his soul was filled with anguish; and his noble features,
which usually wore a tinge of melancholy, were clouded with deeper
sadness, as he felt he must now abandon his brave comrades to their
fate.

On the twentieth of the month was the festival of Corpus Christi, which,
in happier days, had been always celebrated with great pomp by the
Hospitallers. They did not fail to observe it, even at this time. A
procession was formed, with the grand-master at its head; and the
knights walked clad in the dark robes of the order, embroidered with the
white cross of Malta. They were accompanied by the whole population of
the place, men, women, and children. They made the circuit of the town,
taking the direction least exposed to the enemy's fire. On reaching the
ch