EVACUATION OF DAMIETTA. 207

of his enemies, and still the emirs were debating
whether or not they ought to put him and the
companions of his captivity to death.

At the mouth of the Nile, a Genoese galley
awaited the king; and, while every eye was strained
towards the shore with an anxiety which was not
without cause, Walter Espec and Bisset, the English
knight, stood on deck in no enviable frame of mind.

‘I mislike all this delay,’ said Walter, more
agitated than he was wont toappear. ‘ What if, after
all, these emirs should prove false to their covenant?’

‘In truth,’ replied Bisset, ‘it would not amaze me
so much as many things that have come to pass of
Jate; and both the king and his nobles may yet find
to their cost that their hopes of freedom are dashed ;
for we all know the truth of the proverb as to there
being so much between the cup and the lip.’

At this moment they observed the galleys, on
board of which Joinville and other captive Crusaders
were, move up the Nile, and each uttered an ex-
clamation of horror.

‘Now may Holy Katherine be our aid,’ cried
Walter, ‘for our worst anticipations are like to be
realised.’

‘The saints forbid,’ replied Bisset; ‘and yet I am
not so hopeful as I might be, for I have long since
learned not to holloa till out of the wood.’

It was indeed a critical moment for Louis and his
nobles; but in the council of the emirs the milder
views ultimately prevailed, and Bisset and Walter
Espec observed with delight that the galleys which
had moved up the Nile were brought back towards