"The Black Knight," answered Rebecca, faintly; then instantly again shouted with joyful eagerness--"But no--but no! the name of the Lord of Hosts be blessed! he is on foot again, and fights as if there were twenty men's strength in his single arm. His sword is broken--he snatches an axe from a yeoman--he presses Front-de-Boeuf with blow on blow. The giant stoops and totters like an oak under the steel of the woodman--he falls--he falls!" "Front-de-Boeuf?" exclaimed Ivanhoe. "Front-de-Boeuf," answered the Jewess. "His men rush to the rescue, headed by the haughty Templar; their united force compels the champion to pause. They drag Front-de-Boeuf within the walls." "The assailants have won the barriers, have they not?" said Ivanhoe. "They have--they have!" exclaimed Rebecca; and they press the besieged hard upon the outer wall; some plant ladders, some swarm like bees, and endeavor to ascend upon the shoulders of each other; down go stones, beams, and trunks of trees upon their heads, and as fast as they bear the wounded to the rear, fresh men supply their places in the assault. Great God! hast Thou given men Thine own image that it should be thus cruelly defaced by the hands of their brethren!" "Think not of that," said Ivanhoe; "this is no time for such thoughts. Who yield? Who push their way?" "The ladders are thrown down," replied Rebecca, shuddering; "the soldiers lie grovelling under them like crushed reptiles. The besieged have the better." "Saint George strike for us!" exclaimed the knight; "do the false yeomen give way?" "No!" exclaimed Rebecca, "they bear themselves right yeomanly. The Black Knight approaches the postern with his huge axe; the thundering blows which he deals, you may hear them above all the din and shouts of the battle. Stones and beams are hailed down on the bold champion: he regards them no more than if they were thistle-down or feathers!" "By Saint John of Acre," [Footnote: _Saint John of Acre_ was the full name of the Syrian town usually known as _Acre_. During the Crusade which the Christians of Europe undertook to recover the Holy Land from the Saracens, Acre was one of the chief points of contest. It was held first by one party, then by the other. Owing to this importance, it was natural that its name should come to be used as an exclamation.] said Ivanhoe, raising himself joyfully on his couch, "methought there was but one man in England that might do such a deed!" "The postern gate shakes," continued Rebecca--"it crashes--it is splintered by his blows--they rush in--the outwork is won. Oh God! they hurl the defenders from the battlements--they throw them into the moat. O men, if ye be indeed men, spare them that can resist no longer!" "That ridge--the ridge which communicates with the castle--have they won that pass?" exclaimed Ivanhoe.