Many of his
barons had been killed in the assault, and the pikemen and men-at-arms
had suffered heavily. The Earl of Evesham had been wounded; Cuthbert had
taken no part in the assault, for the earl, knowing his bravery, had
forbidden his doing so, as he foresaw the struggle would be of the most
desperate character; and as it was not usual for pages to accompany
their lords on the battlefield, Cuthbert could not complain of his being
forbidden to take part in the fight.
The earl, however, permitted him to accompany Cnut and the bowmen, who
did great service by the accuracy of their aim, preventing by their
storm of arrows the men on the battlements from taking steady aim and
working their machines, and so saved the Earl of Evesham's troop and
those fighting near him from suffering nearly as heavy loss as some of
those engaged in other quarters.
But while successful in beating off all assaults, the defenders of Acre
were now nearly at the end of their resources. The Emperor Saladin,
although he had collected an army of two hundred thousand men, yet
feared to advance and give battle to the Crusaders in their own
lines--for they had thrown up round their camp strong intrenchments to
prevent the progress of the siege being disturbed by forces from
without.
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