equipping the lad properly, so be at no expense."

Amid the applause of the company, Aymond Terrail presented his son to
the good bishop, and said with tears in his eyes,--

"I give him into thy hands, and pray God that wherever thou place him,
he may do thee honor."

The bishop, true to his promise, provided his nephew with an outfit, and
gave him a well-caparisoned horse. Then they made ready to go to
Chambery to meet the Duke of Savoy.

It was with no little interest that the bishop and his friends watched
the young page mount his new steed, for it was a mettlesome one, and
used only to a man's weight. When Pierre bounded into the saddle, the
horse reared and plunged; but the boy kept his seat, and soon, with the
aid of bit and spur, had the animal under complete control. The guests
praised him greatly, and his father asked him if he felt no fear.

"I hope," answered the young Pierre, "by God's help, to manage my horse
among the enemies of the prince I am going to serve."

Then he bade farewell to father and mother and to home and childhood,
and went forth to enter upon a chivalric career.

Arrived at Chambery, the bishop and his company were graciously received
by the Duke of Savoy. The duke maintained a brilliant court, and was
always the faithful ally of France. He invited the uncle and nephew to
dine with him, and again Pierre's graceful manners commended him to the
notice of his elders. The duke was gracious enough to notice him
especially, and asked who the boy was.

"Sir," said the bishop, "it is my nephew, Pierre de Terrail, whom I have
brought to present to thee if thou shouldst like to have his services."

"I accept him at once," answered the duke. "I should indeed be hard to
please if I declined such a gift."

So it was that Pierre became attached to the household of Savoy. He
remained in the duke's service for some time, and easily surpassed his
fellow pages in all the knightly exercises in which they were being
trained. Yet with all his prowess he was so modest and so manly that he
excited no envy among his companions, and the duke and duchess came to
love him as if he were their own son.

Pierre's chivalric traits won to him the hearts of his fellows and his
patrons; but it was perhaps his personal beauty and his charm of manner
that went furthest toward winning him yet another love--a love that he
valued more than all others. There was in the train of the good duchess
a little maid of honor