138 DESTRUCTION OF THE GREEK EMPIRE the north or those under the Turkish sultan. From Dalmatia to the Morea the enemy was triumphant. The men of Macedonia had everywhere fallen before Bajazed's armies. Constantinople was between the hammer and anvil : Asia Minor, on the one side, was nearly all under Turkish rule; the European part of the empire, on the other, contained as many Turks as there were in Asia Minor itself. The insolent tyrant passed in safety between his two capitals — one at Brousa, the other at Adrianople — and repeated his proud boasts of what he would do beyond the limits of the empire. It seemed as if, with his over- whelming force, he had only to succeed once more in a task which, in comparison with what he and his predecessors had done, was easy, and his success would be complete. He would occupy the throne of Constantine, would achieve that which had been the desire of the Arab followers of Mahomet, and for which they had sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives, and would win for himself and his followers the reward of heaven promised to those who should take part in the capture of New Eome. The road to the Elder Eome would be open, and he would yet feed his horse on the altar of St. Peter. We have seen what was the insolent message he sent in his arrogance, in 1402, to John. The answer given would have completed a dramatic story if it had seemed well to the gods. * Tell your master we are weak, but that in our weakness we trust in God, who can give us strength and can put down the mightiest from their seats. Let your master do what he likes.' Thereupon Bajazed had laid siege to Constantinople. Suddenly, in the blackness of darkness with which the fortunes of the city were surrounded, there came a ray of light. Had there been an interpreter there as of old time, Bajazed might have learned the significance of the hand- writing on the wall. All thought of the siege was aban- doned for the time, and Constantinople breathed again freely. What had happened was that Timour the Lame had
