ta, and that Louis himself
should be delivered as hostage for the fulfilment of the condition. His
army at once refused, and the negotiations were broken off. It was now
resolved to attempt a retreat; but the agile Saracens, now in the front
and now in the rear, rendered it a matter of extreme difficulty, and cut
off the stragglers in great numbers. Hundreds of them were drowned in the
Nile; and sickness and famine worked sad ravages upon those who escaped
all other casualties. Louis himself was so weakened by disease, fatigue,
and discouragement, that he was hardly able to sit upon his horse. In the
confusion of the flight he was separated from his attendants, and left a
total stranger upon the sands of Egypt, sick, weary, and almost
friendless. One knight, Geffry de Sergines, alone attended him, and led
him to a miserable hut in a small village, where for several days he lay
in the hourly expectation of death. He was at last discovered and taken
prisoner by the Saracens, who treated him with all the honour due to his
rank and all the pity due to his misfortunes. Under their care his health
rapidly improved, and the next consideration was that of his ransom.

The Saracens demanded, besides money, the cession of Acre, Tripoli, and
other cities of Palestine. Louis unhesitatingly refused, and conducted
himself with so much pride and courage that the sultan declared he was the
proudest infidel he had ever beheld. After a good deal of haggling, the
sultan agreed to waive these conditions, and a treaty was finally
concluded. The city of Damietta was restored; a truce of ten years agreed
upon, and ten thousand golden bezants paid for the release of Louis and
the liberation of all the captives. Louis then withdrew to Jaffa, and
spent two years in putting that city, and Cesarea, with the other
possessions of the Christians in Palestine, into a proper state of
defence. He then returned to his own country, with great reputation as a
saint, but very little as a soldier.

Matthew Paris informs us that, in the year 1250, while Louis was in Egypt,
"thousands of the English were resolved to go to the holy war, had not the
king strictly guarded his ports and kept his people from running out of
doors." When the news arrived of the reverses and captivity of the French
king, their ardour cooled; and the Crusade was sung of only, but not
spoken of.

In France, a very different feeling was the result. The news of the king's
capture spread