Walking through all these,
heedless of the looks cast upon him, and hearing not the oft-repeated
bugle-blasts from all parts of the camp, might be seen a man of small
stature, thin and poorly clad, with down-cast face, wild, unsettled
eye, and timid, nervous gait. It was the man who had created it
all--Peter the Hermit. He had crossed from Constantinople with Godfrey
of Bouillon. His revenge was near! On, on, then, to the Holy City!
18. Alas, the Holy City was yet far distant! Not much more than half
their journey in point of space had been accomplished, and in point of
difficulty and peril their march had little more than begun, for they
had just entered the countries of the infidels. Months had to roll on,
and many battles to be fought, ere the pinnacles of the Holy City
should greet their longing eyes.
19. The route of the crusading armies lay in a southeasterly
direction, through Asia Minor, and then southward to Jerusalem, along
the shores of the Levant. Their march along this route, counting from
the time of their crossing into Asia Minor, May, 1097, to the time
when they came in sight of Jerusalem and laid siege to it, June, 1099,
occupied upward of two years. Countless were the dangers to which the
crusaders were subject in this trial. Of the many sieges two are
especially memorable, that of Nice and that of Antioch.
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