batant was struck down, and unable to recover his feet,
his squire or page might enter the lists and drag his master out of the
press; but in that case the knight was adjudged vanquished, and his arms
and horse declared forfeited. The combat was to cease as soon as Prince
John should throw down his leading staff, or truncheon--another
precaution usually taken to prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood by
the too long endurance of a sport so desperate. Any knight breaking the
rules of the tournament, or otherwise transgressing the rules of
honorable chivalry, was liable to be stripped of his arms, and, having
his shield reversed, to be placed in that posture astride upon the bars
of the palisade, and exposed to public derision, in punishment of his
unknightly conduct. Having announced these precautions, the heralds
concluded with an exhortation to each good knight to do his duty, and to
merit favor from the Queen of Beauty and Love.

This proclamation having been made, the heralds withdrew to their
stations. The knights, entering at either end of the lists in long
procession, arranged themselves in a double file, precisely opposite to
each other, the leader of each party being in the center of the foremost
rank, a post which he did not occupy until each had carefully arranged
the ranks of his party, and stationed every one in his place.

It was a goodly, and at the same time an anxious, sight to behold so
many gallant champions, mounted bravely and armed richly, stand ready
prepared for an encounter so formidable, seated on their war-saddles
like so many pillars of iron, and awaiting the signal of encounter with
the same ardor as their generous steeds, which, by neighing and pawing
the ground, gave signal of their impatience.

As yet the knights held their long lances upright, their bright points
glancing to the sun, and the streamers with which they were decorated
fluttering over the plumage of the helmets. Thus they remained while the
marshals of the field surveyed their ranks with the utmost exactness,
lest either party had more or fewer than the appointed number. The tale
was found exactly complete. The marshals then withdrew from the lists,
and William de Wyvil, with a voice of thunder, pronounced the signal
words--"_Laissez aller!_"[78-13] The trumpets sounded as he spoke; the
spears of the champions were at once lowered and placed in the rests;
the spurs were dashed into the flanks of the horses; and the two
f