town.

This plan was put in execution; but the English and their German allies
played their unconscious part in their adversaries' program so well that
they not only pursued the decoy cavalry, but fell upon other companies
of French, throwing them into utter confusion.

As may be imagined, the seemingly ignoble flight of his cavalry was
galling to a spirit like Bayard's. To "the knight without fear" it was
almost impossible to refrain from fighting when an enemy was within
striking distance; and now, as had often been the case, his warlike
instinct got the better of his sense of obedience.

He was under orders not to fight, but to retreat at full speed when the
enemy should give chase. The latter command he obeyed; the former might
as well have been given to the storm. He would fly with his company
awhile,--till his fiery spirit could no longer be curbed,--then he would
wheel about and charge the pursuing English with such impetuous courage
that numbers would be compelled to fall back for an instant before his
matchless prowess.

At length the chevalier and his company reached a bridge which spanned a
swift torrent. He could not resist the temptation of making a stand
against the enemy, though he had a mere handful of men about him, so he
whirled his horse about and faced the foe. It mattered little how great
were the odds against him, for the spirit of battle possessed him. He
gave one glance at the remnant that rallied to him, then said to a
messenger quickly,--

"Go tell my Lord of Chabannes that I will hold this bridge and whip them
if he will but send me reinforcements."

The reinforcements did not come; but Bayard and his little company held
the bridge with sword and lance till they saw a large division of German
troops fording the stream in their rear. Seeing that they were thus
surrounded, and by overwhelming numbers, Bayard said to his men
cheerily--

"Let us give ourselves up, comrades; further resistance were but a
bootless sacrifice." Not the least noteworthy of Bayard's many fine
qualities were his rare good sense and his cheerfulness under
misfortune. If he won, he enjoyed his victory; if he lost, he accepted
defeat like a philosopher.

His men now followed his advice, each surrendering to the nearest enemy.

Now it chanced, in the confusion, that Bayard saw an exhausted German
throw himself down under a near-by tree and unbuckle his sword. In an
instant the chevalier sprang to him, snatched up