"No matter for that," said the king. "Go and tell him he can not have
any help from me. I intend that the glory of this victory shall be for
him alone, and for those to whom I have intrusted him."

Things went on in this way for some time, until at length the whole
French army was thrown into utter confusion, and the men were flying
in all directions. Night was coming on, and it was beginning to be
impossible to distinguish friend from foe. A French knight rode up to
the King of France, and, seizing his horse by the bridle, turned him
away, saying to the king,

"Sire, it is time to withdraw. By remaining here any longer you will
only sacrifice yourself to no purpose. Reserve yourself to win the
victory some other day."

So the king turned and fled, a small party of his officers
accompanying him. He fled to a castle in the neighborhood, called the
Castle of La Broye, and sought refuge there. When the party arrived
the gates were shut, for it was late and dark. They summoned the
castellan, or keeper of the castle. He came out upon the battlements
and demanded who was there.

The king called out,

"Open, castellan, open. It is the fortune of France."

The castellan knew the king's voice, and ordered the gate to be
opened, and the drawbridge to be let down. The king and his party,
which consisted of only five persons, went in. They remained at the
castle only a short time to take some wine and other refreshment, and
then set out again, at midnight, with guides furnished them by the
castellan, and rode to Amiens, which, being a large and well-fortified
town, was at least a temporary place of safety.

But, though the king himself thus made his escape, a great many of the
knights and generals in his army would not fly, but remained fighting
on the field until they were killed. There was one of the king's
allies, the King of Bohemia, whose death, if the legends which have
come down to us respecting this battle are true, occurred under very
extraordinary circumstances. He was present with the army, not as a
combatant, for he was old and blind, and thus completely helpless. He
came, it would seem, to accompany his son, who was an active commander
in Philip's army. His son was dangerously wounded, and forced to
abandon the field, and the old king was so overwhelmed with chagrin at
the result of the battle, and so enraged at the fate of his son, that
he determined to charge upon the enemy himself. So he placed himself
bet