"I hope to do better than that," replied Reeves; "but, since I cannot serve forty pieces of cannon, I must have assistance from your men."
[Illustration: THE SECOND GUN TEST]
"Assistance you must have," agreed Sir Jehan, and straightway he ordered some of the archers to man the guns. The fellows obeyed quickly, yet in evident anticipation of going to their doom; but after a few shots, finding that they were still unharmed, they warmed to their work, and soon showed great promise.
Still there was a lot to be done. The right amount of powder required to give the best results had to be determined, and sights to each gun fitted according to its peculiarities, some firing with less trajectory than others.
At length the warlike preparations were justified, when shortly after daybreak one morning the outposts on the eastern side of the Croixilian territory rode in with the intelligence that a vast horde of Arabs was approaching.
CHAPTER XIII
The Moslem Host
INSTANTLY the city was in a state of orderly commotion. Men rushed hither and thither, each with a set purpose—the knights to don their armour, the commoners to arm themselves and run to their appointed stations on the walls, while the serfs issued through the gates to gather in the corn, which was now fit for the sickle. The latter, although having barely three hours to perform their task, worked so rapidly that when the advance guard of the Moslems appeared in the valley most of the corn had been gathered in. The rest was set on fire, and the serfs retired behind the walls. The five drawbridges were raised and the ponderous gates shut and securely barred, while behind the battlements the citizen army of Croixilia waited in orderly silence the advance of their hereditary foes.