ged, and refused to let him mount. The
prince, however, used him as a shield to ward off the press of foes:
while, with his sword, he defended himself against those in front of him.
Taric ben Zeyad arrived at the scene of conflict, and paused, for a
moment, in admiration of the surpassing prowess of the prince:
recollecting, however, that his fall would be a death-blow to his army, he
spurred upon him, and wounded him severely with his scimetar. Before he
could repeat his blow, Theodomir led up a body of Christian cavaliers to
the rescue, and Taric was parted from his prey by the tumult of the fight.
The prince sank to the earth, covered with wounds, and exhausted by the
loss of blood. A faithful page drew him from under the hoofs of the
horses, and, aided by a veteran soldier, an ancient vassal of Ataulpho,
conveyed him to a short distance from the field of battle, by the side of
a small stream that gushed out from among rocks. They staunched the blood
that flowed from his wounds, and washed the dust from his face, and laid
him beside the fountain. The page sat at his head, and supported it on his
knees; and the veteran stood at his feet, with his brow bent, and his eyes
full of sorrow. The prince gradually revived, and opened his eyes. 'How
fares the battle?' said he. 'The struggle is hard,' replied the soldier,
'but the day may yet be ours.'

The prince felt that the hour of his death was at hand, and ordered that
they should aid him to rise upon his knees. They supported him between
them, and he prayed fervently for a short time, when, finding his strength
declining, he beckoned the veteran to sit down beside him on the rock.
Continuing to kneel, he confessed himself to that ancient soldier; having
no priest or friar to perform that office in this hour of extremity. When
he had so done, he sunk again upon the earth, and pressed it with his
lips, as if he would take a fond farewell of his beloved country. The page
would then have raised his head, but found that his lord had yielded up
the ghost.

A number of Arab warriors, who came to the fountain to slake their thirst,
cut off the head of the prince and bore it in triumph to Taric, crying,
'Behold the head of the Christian leader!' Taric immediately ordered that
the head should be put upon the end of a lance, together with the surcoat
of the prince, and borne about the field of battle, with the sound of
trumpets, atabels, and cymbals.

When the Christians beheld t