anches of the tree on which Vortigern has
mounted; the third enters his left arm.

The descendant of Joel quickly draws out the sharp-edged iron, throws it
back at the Franks with a defiant gesture, and disappears behind the
twisted branches of the improvised barricade.

Three times the cry of the night bird is again heard in the forest, and
the Bretons disperse along paths known only to them, again singing as
they go, the ancient war-song, the sound of whose refrain is gradually
lost in the distance:

"This morning we asked:
'How many are there of these Franks?
How many are there of these barbarians?'
This evening we say:
'How many were there of these Franks?
How many were there of these barbarians?'
Victory, Victory for Gaul!"

CHAPTER VII.

THE MOOR OF KENNOR.

About four leagues in width and three in length--such is the expanse of
the moor of Kennor. It constitutes a vast plateau that slopes to the
north toward the valley of Lokfern, and is bounded on the west by a wide
river that pours its waters into the Sea of Armorica only a little
distance away. The forest of Cardik and the last spurs of the mountain
chain of Men-Brez border on the moor. The moor is covered throughout its
extent by heather two or three feet high and almost burned out by the
scorching sun of the dog-days. Level as a lake, the immense barren and
desert plain presents a desolate aspect. A violent east wind causes the
tall heather, now of the color of dead leaves, to undulate like a
peaceful sheet of water. Above, the sky is of a bright blue on this
sultry and windy day. An August sun inundates with its blinding light
the desert expanse of heather, whose silence is disturbed only by the
sharp chirp of the grasshopper, or the low moan of the gale.

Presently a new element enters upon the scene. Skirting the bank of the
river, a black and confused mass heaves into sight, stretches out its
length, and moves toward the centre of the plain. It is the one of the
three army corps led in person by Louis the Pious against the Breton
Gauls. Long before its appearance, other troops, formed in compact
cohorts, have been descending on the east the last slopes of Men-Brez.
They, likewise, are advancing toward the plain--the place agreed upon
for the junction of the three armies that had invaded Armorica, burning
and ravaging the country upon their passage, and driving the population
back towards the v