And the stern warrior drew the embers of the
fire, so as to warm the feet of the youth, while he cast a mantle
over him to protect him from the heavy dew.
The Knight of the Holy Sepulchre departed upon his rounds, and
assigned to the sentinels their posts, after which he returned and
lay amidst the sleeping forms beneath the cedars, the branches of
which were ever and anon fitfully illumined as some brand fell and
caused a flame to arise. He gazed intently, nay, even fondly, upon
the ingenuous face of the sleeping youth.
"How like his mother he is--what a load his simple tale has removed
from my breast! God, I thank thee! the old house of my fathers yet
lives in this boy--worthier far than I to represent it."
CHAPTER XXVII. THE FRIENDS WHO ONCE WERE FOES.
The remainder of the journey of Edward of Aescendune to the camp of
the Crusaders before Jerusalem was uneventful. With such an escort
as the Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and his well-known band, there
was little occasion to dread the onslaught of any of those troops
of Turks or Saracens, who hung on the skirts of the Crusading
hosts, to cut off the stragglers.
They skirted the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, crossed the
Jordan at the fords below, and travelled southwards along its
eastern bank.
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