n. In the morning
he furnished Cuthbert with the sheepskin and short tunic which formed
the dress of a shepherd, and dyeing his limbs and face a deep brown he
himself started with Cuthbert on his journey to the next Christian
community.

This was a small one consisting of two huts only, built almost on the
summit of a mountain, the inhabitants living partly on the milk and
cheese of their goats and partly upon the scanty vegetables which grew
around the huts.

His welcome was as cordial as that of the night before; and the next
morning, his former guide taking leave of him, the peasant in whose
house he had slept again conducted him forward to another community.
This was the last station and stood in a narrow gorge on the face of the
hills looking down over the plain, beyond which in the far distance a
faint line of blue sea was visible.

This community was far more prosperous and well-to-do than those at
which the previous nights had been passed. The head of the village
appeared to be a personage of some importance; and although clinging in
secret to his Christian faith, he and his belongings had so far adopted
the usages of the Mussulmen that apparently no thought of their
Christianity entered into the minds of the authorities. He was the owner
of two or three horses and of some extensive vineyards and olive
grounds. He was also able to speak French with some degree of fluency.

At considerable length he explained to Cuthbert the exact position of
the Christian army, which had moved some distance along the coast since
Cuthbert had left it. It was, he said, exposed to constant attacks by
the Saracens, who harassed it in every way, and permitted it no repose.
He said that the high hopes which had been raised by the defeat of the
Saracens at Azotus had now fallen, and that it was feared the Christians
would not be able to force their way forward to Jerusalem. The great
portion of their animals had died, and the country was so eaten up by
the Saracen hosts that an advance upon Jerusalem without a large baggage
train was next to impossible; and indeed if the Christians were to
arrive before that city, they could effect nothing without the aid of
the heavy machines necessary for battering the walls or effecting an
escalade.

Cuthbert was vastly grieved when he heard of the probable failure of the
expedition, and he burned with eagerness to take his part again in the
dangers and difficulties which beset the Christian a