for the bodies
of the slain. The Christians were victorious; and La Valette had the
melancholy satisfaction of rendering the last offices to the remains of
his gallant kinsman. The brethren would have condoled with him on his
loss. But his generous nature shrank from the indulgence of a selfish
sorrow. "All are alike dear to me," he said; "all of you I look on as my
children. I mourn for Polastra" (the friend of the young La Valette) "as
I do for my own nephew. And after all, it matters little. They have gone
before us but for a short time."[1363]

It was indeed no season for the indulgence of private sorrows, when
those of a public nature pressed so heavily on the heart. Each day the
condition of the besieged was becoming more critical. The tottering
defences both of Il Borgo and La Sangle were wasting away under the
remorseless batteries of the besiegers. Great numbers, not merely of the
knights and the soldiers, but of the inhabitants, had been slain. The
women of the place had shown, throughout the whole siege, the same
heroic spirit as the men. They not only discharged the usual feminine
duties of tending and relieving the sick, but they were often present in
the battle, supplying the garrison with refreshments, or carrying the
ammunition, or removing the wounded to the hospital. Thus sharing in the
danger of their husbands and fathers, they shared too in their fate.
Many perished by the enemy's fire; and the dead bodies of women lay
mingled among those of the men, on the ramparts and in the
streets.[1364] The hospitals were filled with the sick and wounded,
though fortunately no epidemic had as yet broken out to swell the bills
of mortality. Those of the garrison who were still in a condition to do
their duty were worn by long vigils and excessive toil. To fight by day,
to raise intrenchments or to repair the crumbling works by night, was
the hard duty of the soldier. Brief was the respite allowed him for
repose,--a repose to be broken at any moment by the sound of the
alarm-bell, and to be obtained only amidst so wild an uproar, that it
seemed, in the homely language of the veteran so often quoted, "as if
the world were coming to an end."[1365]

Happily, through the provident care of the grand-master, there was still
a store of provisions in the magazines. But the ammunition was already
getting low. Yet the resolution of the besieged did not fail them. Their
resolution had doubtless been strengthened by the cru