condition of the soldiers. There was little choice, to be sure, the way through the hills being firmly held by the Saracens, most of them fresh troops, but it was the last sporting chance. The Squire of Balian laid the decision to Raymond, remarking sadly that the King accepted his bad advice after having refused to heed the good ; but other authorities contradicted this and allege that Raymond opposed the stopping, urging that the army press on at all costs, for water must be had if they were not all to perish. He is pictured as riding in from the front where he had been all day, crying in despair: "Alas! alas, Lord God! The war is over. We are dead men. The Kingdom is undone." It was an awful night, with an anguished cry for water from all sides and not a drop to be had. The Saracens, knowing well the state in which their opponents found themselves, pressed all around so closely that not a man could escape. " The Angels of Paradise and Hell waited rejoicing. There was more power in this one night than in a thousand ordinary months, for the Angels and the Spirit had come down to earth to assure us of the victory in the morning. We were like those to whom God has spoken and to whom he has assured not only rewards in this world but also the everlasting joys of Paradise." The ranks of the Moslems contained many who rhapsodized after this fashion. However much Saladin counted upon Divine assistance, he was not leaving to the Lord what might