sh bowmen along the hedges poured a flight of arrows, which threw
them at once into confusion.

The bodies of the slain men and horses soon blocked up the way; but a
considerable number, forcing a path through every obstacle, nearly
approached the first line of archers. A gallant knight, named James
Audley, with his four squires, rushed against them; and thus, almost
single-handed, he fought during the whole day, hewing a path through
the thickest of the foe, until late in the evening; when, covered with
many wounds, and fainting from loss of blood, he was borne from the
field.

Meantime the shower of arrows continued to pour death, while the
English men-at-arms, passing between the lines of the archers, drove
back the foremost of the enemy, and the hollow soon became one scene
of carnage. One of Edward's officers, named the Captal de Buch, at the
same time issued from a woody ravine situated near the foot of the
hill,--where, with three hundred men-at-arms and three hundred archers
on horseback, he had lain concealed,--and attacked the flank of one of
the divisions of the French army, commanded by the Dauphin, as it
commenced the ascent. This, with the confusion in front, and a rumor
that part of the army was beaten, carried terror into the rear ranks,
and vast numbers, who had hardly seen an enemy, galloped madly from
the field. The arrows discharged by the horse-archers now began to
tell on the front line of the enemy:--the quick eye of Sir John
Chandos marked it waver and open.

"Now, sir," he exclaimed, turning to the prince, "ride forward, and
the day is yours. Let us charge right upon the King of France, for
there lies the fate of the day. His courage, I know well, will not let
him fly; but he shall be well encountered."

"On! on! Chandos," replied the prince, "you shall not see me tread one
step back, but ever in advance. Bear on my banner! God and St. George
be with us!"

The horses had been kept in readiness; and each man now springing into
saddle, the army bore down on the enemy with levelled lances, the
Captal de Buch forcing his way onward to regain the main body. The
hostile forces met with a terrible shock, while the cries of "Denis
Mountjoye!" "St. George, Guienne!" mingled with the clashing of steel,
the shivering of lances, and the sound of the galloping steeds. The
sight of the conflict struck terror into a body of sixteen thousand
men, who had not yet drawn a sword. Panic seemed to seize them;