p; and Oliver, that he
could marry the princess in spite of her father.

The king, angry at hearing no praises of his wealth and hospitality,
insisted upon his guests fulfilling their boasts on the morrow, under
penalty of death. He was satisfied, however, by the success of Oliver's
undertaking, and the peers returned to France. Galyen, Oliver's son by
Hugues's daughter, followed them thither when he reached manhood, and
joined his father in the valley of Roncesvalles, just in time to receive
his blessing ere he died. Then, having helped Charlemagne to avenge his
peers, Galyen returned to Jerusalem, where he found his grandfather dead
and his mother a captive. His first act was, of course, to free his mother,
after which he became king of Jerusalem, and his adventures came to an end.

The "Chronicle" of Turpin, whence the materials for many of the poems about
Roland were taken, declares that Charlemagne, having conquered nearly the
whole of Europe, retired to his palace to seek repose. But one evening,
while gazing at the stars, he saw a bright cluster move from the "Friesian
sea, by way of Germany and France, into Galicia." This prodigy, twice
repeated, greatly excited Charlemagne's wonder, and was explained to him by
St. James in a vision. The latter declared that the progress of the stars
was emblematic of the advance of the Christian army towards Spain, and
twice bade the emperor deliver his land from the hands of the Saracens.

[Sidenote: Charlemagne in Spain.] Thus admonished, Charlemagne set out for
Spain with a large army, and invested the city of Pamplona, which showed no
signs of surrender at the end of a two months' siege. Recourse to prayer on
the Christians' part, however, produced a great miracle, for the walls
tottered and fell like those of Jericho. All the Saracens who embraced
Christianity were spared, but the remainder were slain before the emperor
journeyed to the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela to pay his
devotions.

A triumphant march through the country then ensued, and Charlemagne
returned to France, thinking the Saracens subdued. He had scarcely crossed
the border, however, when Aigolandus, one of the pagan monarchs, revolted,
and soon recovered nearly all the territory his people had lost. When
Charlemagne heard these tidings, he sent back an army, commanded by Milon,
Roland's father, who perished gloriously in this campaign. The emperor
speedily followed his brother-in-law with