war-horse, and a purse with three hundred crowns--which did not
last him long, for he shared it all with his companions.

Louis XII. had been so much engaged with his conquest of Milan that for a
time he had not done much towards recovering the kingdom of Naples. This
had been lost after the retreat of Charles VIII., who died before he had
been able to make another fight for it, after the disastrous fate of his
viceroy, Gilbert de Montpensier, and his brave little army. At this time
Frederick of Aragon was King of Naples, having succeeded his nephew,
Ferdinand II., in 1496.

The king gave the command of his great army to the lord of Aubigny, who had
brought back the broken ranks of the first expedition to Naples. The
company of de Ligny, under his lieutenant, Captain Louis d'Ars, was ordered
to form part of it. Bayard, the Good Knight, who could not bear to be left
behind when fighting was going on, asked the permission of his dear master
to accompany the lieutenant's men.

On this important occasion Louis XII., doubtful of his own strength, made
the great mistake of forming an alliance with Ferdinand, King of Spain.

King Frederick of Naples knew nothing of the secret compact between France
and Spain, and he expected Gongalvo de Cordova, known as the Great Captain,
to come to his help with the troops of Spain.

As the alliance between France and Spain was founded on treachery, we
cannot be surprised that they soon fell out over the division of their
spoils. King Ferdinand of Aragon was never bound by any contract which did
not profit him, and by his orders the Great Captain, Gonzalvo de Cordova,
invaded the province of Naples itself. The lord of Aubigny had placed his
various companies as garrisons in different towns, and those which belonged
to the Count de Ligny were in the hands of his company, amongst whom, as we
know, was Bayard, the Good Knight. We shall now understand how it was that
he found himself at war with the Spaniards, who had been at first the
allies of France.

Pierre de Bayard, the Good Knight, had been placed in command of a garrison
at a place called Monervine, by his captain, Louis d'Ars. There had been no
fighting in his neighbourhood for some little time, and he began to get
rather weary. So he said one evening to his companions: "Gentlemen, it
seems to me that we have been too long in one place without seeing our
foes. We shall grow weak for want of using our arms, and our enemies will
gro