ont, Bayard's nephew, who
was keeping a watch on the enemy, came to tell the company fighting in the
market-place: "Gentlemen, retire at once; for above our bridge a number of
Swiss are arriving in little boats, ten at a time, and when they have
enough men they will enclose us in this city and we shall all be cut to
pieces."

He was so wise and valiant a leader that his words were obeyed, and the
French retreated, always fighting, as far as their bridge, hotly pursued,
so that there was heavy skirmishing. However, the horsemen passed over
safely, while about three hundred foot-soldiers remained behind to guard
the entrance of the bridge. But a great misfortune happened, for when the
French had just succeeded in taking across the last piece of artillery, a
long "culverin"[1] (cannon), named _Madame de Forli_,[2] which had been
re-taken from the Spaniards at Ravenna, was so heavy that it sank the first
boat, and the poor soldiers, seeing they were lost, escaped as best they
could, but many were killed and others drowned.

[Footnote 1: Cannon of 5-1/2 inches bore; weight of the shot 17-1/2 lbs.]

[Footnote 2: Named after the famous Catarina Sforza, the warlike Lady of
Forli.]

When the French had crossed the bridge they destroyed it, although they
were no longer pursued, but a great misfortune befell Bayard. He was, as
usual, in the place of danger, protecting the retreat of his company, when
he was wounded by the shot from the town of a small cannon called a
"fowler." It struck him between the shoulder and the neck with such force
that all the flesh was torn off to the bone, and those who saw the shot
thought he was killed. But although he was in agony and knew that he was
seriously wounded, he said to his companions: "Gentlemen, it is nothing."
They tried to staunch the wound with moss from the trees, and some of his
soldiers tore up their shirts for bandages, as there was no surgeon at
hand. It was in this unfortunate condition that the Good Knight accompanied
the French army on that sad retreat from place to place, until at last they
reached Piedmont and crossed the Alps.

Less than three months after the victory of Ravenna the triumphant allies
had re-taken Bologna, Parma, and Piacenza without a blow; had encouraged
Genoa to assert her independence; and Italy, with the exception of a few
citadels, had escaped from French rule.

Bayard, who suffered much from his wound, was carried to Grenoble, where
his good unc