ushing after cried, "God wills
it!" as they looked upon the Mount of Olives and the Holy City. Riders
climbed down from their horses and marched on foot; many knelt, and
multitudes kissed the ground. The sense of the sin for whose forgiveness
Christ had died, brought many to tears of honest penitence and some to
conscious pardon. As they looked on the height where His profaned tomb
must be, they wept bitter tears and vowed again to deliver the city.

[Sidenote: _Country Laid Waste_]

Before the Christians could invest the city its ruler took care to
ravage the adjacent territory, poison the wells, and thus belted the
walls with a desert. He provisioned the city against a siege, and
fashioned all known engines of war. The garrison of forty thousand was
increased by twenty thousand arm-bearing citizens.

[Sidenote: _Plan for Attack_]

On the day after arrival, the various leaders distributed the territory
and laid siege to the city. Egress from the city was possible only
through the valley of Gihon and the valley of Jehoshaphat. Christians
from the city, driven out for fear of treason and to burden the
resources of the besiegers, quickened the ardor of the Christian army by
an account of the wrongs they had suffered at Mussulman hands. Churches
had been robbed for the benefit of infidel soldiers, and the most sacred
buildings were threatened with destruction by the unbelievers. All these
conditions led to a determination of an early assault. They had made no
adequate provision for scaling walls or battering gates, but expected
Divine intervention in their favor. The assault was repulsed, and their
losses brought the victory of reason.

[Sidenote: _Constructing Engines of War_]

Finding some large beams, they demolished churches and houses to obtain
other material. The drought of summer came on; the cisterns had been
filled up or poisoned; Kedron ran dry, and thirst added its horrors. The
intermitting fountain of Siloam was insufficient. The soldiers were
reduced to licking the dew from the stones. Animals died in great
numbers. The loot of great cities was exchanged for a few draughts of
foul water. Fear alone prevented the sortie from the city which would
have nearly extinguished the Christian army. Some fled. The wonder is
that so many remained and saw that the only remedy for their evils lay
in the capture of the city.

[Sidenote: _Aided by German Fleet_]

[Sidenote: _Scarcity of Water_]

As if a sudden gift