“I do not know Claudia’s thoughts,” Caretto remarked drily, “but I do know that last year she refused to listen to at least a score of excellent offers for her hand, including one from a son of the doge himself, and that without any reasonable cause assigned by her, to the great wonderment of all, seeing that she does not appear to have any leaning whatever towards a life in a nunnery.  At any rate, if at some future time you should pluck up heart of grace to tell her you love her, and she refuses you, you will at least have the consolation of knowing that you are not the only one, by a long way, whose suit has been rejected.  And now as to our affairs here.  Methinks that tomorrow that battery will open fire upon us.  It seems completed.”

“Yes, I think they are nearly ready,” Gervaise said, turning his mind resolutely from the subject they had been discussing.  “From the palace wall I saw, before I came down here, large numbers of men rolling huge stones down towards the church.  Our guns were firing steadily; but could they load them ten times as fast as they do, they would hardly be able to stop the work, so numerous are those engaged upon it.”

“Yes we shall soon learn something of the quality of their artillery.  The tower is strong enough to resist ordinary guns, but it will soon crumble under the blows of such enormous missiles.  Never have I seen or heard in Europe of cannon of such size; but indeed, in this matter the Turks are far ahead of us, and have, ever since cannon were first cast, made them of much larger size than we in Europe have done.  However, there is one comfort; they may destroy this fort, but they have still to cross the water, and this under the fire of the guns on the palace walls; when they once land, their great battery must cease firing, and we shall be able to meet them on equal terms in the breach.  Fight as hard as they may, I think we can hold our own, especially as reinforcements can come down to us more quickly than they can be brought across the water.”

The next morning, at daybreak, the deep boom of a gun announced to the city that the great battering cannon had begun their work.  In the fort the sleeping knights sprang to their feet at the concussion that seemed to shake it to its centre.  They would have rushed to the walls, but Caretto at once issued orders that no one should show himself on the battlements unless under special orders.

“There is nothing whatever to be done until the Turks have breached the wall, and are ready to advance to attack us.  Every sword will be needed when that hour comes, and each man owes it to the Order to run no useless risk, until the hour when he is required to do his share of the fighting.”

The time required to reload the great cannon was considerable, but at regular intervals they hurled their heavy missiles against the wall, the distance being so short that every ball struck it.  After some twenty shots had been fired, Caretto, accompanied by Gervaise, went out by a small gate on the eastern side of the tower, and made their way round by the foot of the wall to see what effect the shots had produced on the solid masonry.