62. Eighteen years passed since the children's fleet sailed out of
European life. Then a vague rumor of treachery began to circulate,
and, little by little, the details came out of one of the most inhuman
crimes that ever shocked the hearts of men. The benevolent merchants
who furnished the ships had sold the children to the barbarous
Moslems, and the course of the fleet was turned from east to south. On
the second day out a great storm arose, and two of the ships
foundered, and all on board perished. A more horrible fate awaited the
survivors. Landing in a city of the Moors in northern Africa, they
were conducted to a secure prison, and from the gloomy portals they
passed out into distant and perpetual slavery. One by one the captives
died, some by disease, some by cruelty, others passed away in old age.
At length all dropped their weary burdens, and their toils and sorrows
ended. Not one of the hundreds that sailed out of Marseilles on that
sunny afternoon ever saw Europe again. Rarely in the history of the
world has a story in real life been freighted with so much woe as fell
to the lot of the victims of the strange madness which swept over
Europe less than seven hundred years ago. Peace to their memories!

63. At last an army was organized, and Innocent announced that he
himself would lead the host to the defense of the holy sepulchre; but
his death intervened before the project was ripe. Andrew, king of
Hungary, was the only monarch who had leisure or inclination to leave
his dominions. He led the army to Palestine and defeated the Saracens,
but failed to follow up his victory, and soon after abandoned the
enterprise. The Duke of Austria, who succeeded him as leader, directed
the whole energy of the crusade against Egypt; and Damietta, which
commanded the river Nile, was chosen as the first point of attack.
Finding themselves unable to successfully defend the city, the Moslems
offered to yield the whole of Palestine to the Christians upon the