ann THE BOY CRUSADERS,

impressed on the memory of the Crusaders. It was
there that Touran Chah, when on his way from Man-
sourah to Damietta, halted to receive the congratu-
lations of the Moslem chiefs on the victory that had
been achieved over the Franks; there, in their com-
pany, he celebrated his triumph bya grand banquet ;
and there was enacted the terribie tragedy that
exposed the surviving pilgrims to new dangers and
fresh trials. ,

By this time, indeed, the emirs and Mamelukes
had become so exasperated at the elevation of the
sultan’s favourite courtiers that they vowed ven-
geeance; and, in order to justify their project, they
ascribed to him the most sinister designs. It was
asserted that many of the emirs were doomed to die
on a certain day; and that, in the midst of a noc-
turnal orgy, Touran Chah had cut off the tops of
the flambeaux in his chamber, crying—‘ Thus shall
fly the heads of all the Mamelukes.’ In order to
avenge herself for the neglect to which she was
exposed under the new reign, Chegger Edour, the
sultana who had played so important a part in the
last days of Melikul Salih, exerted her eloquence to
stimulate the discontent; and the emirs and Mame-
lukes, having formed a conspiracy, only awaited a
convenient opportunity to complete their projects of
vengeance at a blow.

It was the day after his arrival at Pharescour, on
waich Touran Chah gave a banquet to the chiefs of
his army; and, as it happened, the company com-
prised the Mamelukes and the emirs who were, or
who deemed themselves, in danger. It would seem