Section 184. REBECCA DESCRIBES THE SIEGE OF TORQUILSTONE TO THE WOUNDED IVANHOE. II.
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“He blenches not! he blenches not!” said Rebecca, “I see him now; he leads a body of men[1] close under the outer barrier[2] of the barbican. They pull down the piles and palisades; they hew down the barriers with axes.—His high black plume floats abroad over the throng[3], like a raven over the field of the slain[4].—They have made a breach in the barriers—they rush in—they are thrust back! Front-de-Bœuf heads the defenders; I see his gigantic form above the press[5]. They throng[6] again to (S. 72, N. 4) the breach, and the pass is disputed hand to hand and man to man[7]. God of Jacob! it is the meeting of two fierce tides—the conflict of two oceans moved by adverse winds[8]!”
She turned her head from the lattice, as if (S. 27, N. 7) unable longer to endure a sight so terrible (S. 128, N. 11).
“Look forth again, Rebecca,” said Ivanhoe, mistaking[9] the cause of her retiring; “the archery must in some degree[10] have ceased, since they are now fighting hand to hand.—Look again, there is[11] now less danger.”
Rebecca again looked forth, and almost immediately exclaimed: “Help, O prophets of the law! Front-de-Bœuf and the Black Knight fight hand to hand on[12] the breach, amid[13] the roar of their followers[14], who watch[15] the progress of the strife.—Heaven strike[16] (App. § 34) with the cause (Sache, f.) of the oppressed and the captive!”