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still, when the troops advanced near the city, the walls were vacant, and
no cannon was pointed against the intruders. When these circumstances were
reported to Raymond, he caused minute observations to be made as to what
was doing within the walls, and when his scouts returned, reporting only
the continued silence and desolation of the city, he commanded the army to
be drawn out before the gates. No one appeared on the walls; the very
portals, though locked and barred, seemed unguarded; above, the many domes
and glittering crescents pierced heaven; while the old walls, survivors of
ages, with ivy-crowned tower and weed-tangled buttress, stood as rocks in
an uninhabited waste. From within the city neither shout nor cry, nor aught
except the casual howling of a dog, broke the noon-day stillness. Even our
soldiers were awed to silence; the music paused; the clang of arms was
hushed. Each man asked his fellow in whispers, the meaning of this sudden
peace; while Raymond from an height endeavoured, by means of glasses, to
discover and observe the stratagem of the enemy. No form could be discerned
on the terraces of the houses; in the higher parts of the town no moving
shadow bespoke the presence of any living being: the very trees waved not,
and mocked the stability of architecture with like immovability.
The tramp of horses, distinctly heard in the silence, was at length
discerned. It was a troop sent by Karazza, the Admiral; they bore
dispatches to the Lord General. The contents of these papers were
important. The night before, the watch, on board one of the smaller vessels
anchored near the seraglio wall, was roused by a slight splashing as of
muffled oars; the alarm was given: twelve small boats, each containing
three Janizaries, were descried endeavouring to make their way through the
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