THE COMPACT BROKEN.

267

of Algiers, imitating so exactly his bearing and gestures, as also his shield with the well-known dragon's skin, that all believed it was the mighty Rodomonte himself who stood before the king, and with frowning brow and haughty tone, thus addressed him:

'Sire, it was ill thought of to choose this youth as your champion against yon tried and valiant Gaul. Do not suffer this combat to proceed, but invent some pretext for interrupting it and trust to Rodomonte to restore victory to your arms.'

Agramante was so elated at the supposed return of this renowned warrior, that he stayed not to consider the oath he had just made, but without more ado broke the compact and ordered his whole army to advance and forthwith to attack the Christians. A scene of indescribable confusion followed, in which Melissa, rejoicing in the success of her stratagem, disappeared; and Ruggiero and Rinaldo, not knowing how or by whom the convention had been transgressed, withdrew from the field, and promised each other to take no part on either side, until they knew which was in fault.

Victory was not long in declaring itself for the Christians. Agramante's young recruits and raw levies, but lately arrived from Spain and Africa, were no match for Charles' veteran troops, led by such captains as Guidone, Sansonetto, and the knights of the house of Chiaramonte. In vain Agramante strove to arrest his flying squadrons, in

vain he asked what had become of Rodomonte and looked round for his allies. Indignant with him for having broken his plighted word, Marsilio and Sobrino had abandoned him to his fate, and had withdrawn into the city.

Before nightfall the king saw his army completely routed, and hastily collecting the scattered remnants of his forces, he fled across the Rhone. Securing his retreat by destroying the bridges behind him, he made his way to Marseilles, the nearest seaport, and after two days' delay, partly to give time for the fugitives to come in, and partly because of the winds being contrary, he embarked with what remained of his army on board his ships and set sail for Africa, while King Marsilio returned to Valencia, and began to repair forts and citadels, in a great fright lest it should now be the turn of Spain to be invaded by Charlemagne.

The slaughter of the Saracens on that memorable day was very great, and the site of the battle on the low ground lying between Arles and the Rhone was long marked by the mounds heaped over the buried Moors.

RUGGIERO FOLLOWS HIS KING. 269

CHAPTER XX.

RUGGIERO IS SHIPWRECKED AND ENTERTAINED BY A HOLY HERMIT,

The winds

Who take the ruffian billows by the top,

Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them

With deafening clamour on the slippery shrouds.-SHAKSPEARE.

WHEN Ruggiero saw his king defeated he sadly took leave of Rinaldo, and buckling on his trusty sword and mounting his good charger, for his squire had brought him both, with a heavy heart he left the fatal field. All the next day and the following night he wandered about, doubting in himself what he ought to do. He longed to return to Bradamante, yet he loved Agramante, and he felt that, were he now to abandon him in this his great strait, his heart would often smite him for his ingratitude, and at last he made up his mind to follow the king.

He went first to Arles, hoping to find a boat in which to drop down the river to Marseilles, but Agramante had either taken or destroyed all that were in the place, and he was obliged to go by

the coast road. When he reached the port he found the fleet had already sailed, and it was only with great difficulty and after some delay that he succeeded in procuring a small vessel in which he embarked, and ordered the pilot to steer straight for the coast of Africa.

But

It was fine when they left the harbour, and they were soon out of sight of land, for a favouring breeze filled the flowing sails, and they promised themselves a quick and pleasant passage. these hopes were doomed to disappointment; for at nightfall the wind suddenly veered, and after blowing for some time right in their teeth, increasing rapidly in violence, it became a regular hurricane, blowing by turns from all points of the compass. The pilot pointed and shouted in vain, his voice was lost in the howling of the storm, and the pale and terrified steersman lost all control over the helm from the violence of the gale. Dark and darker grew the night as the rain began to pour down in torrents; the wind whistled shrilly in the torn shrouds, the lightning flashed through the black clouds, and the deafening peals of thunder mingled with the roar of the waves. The sailors did what they could; some ran to help the man at the helm, some to pull in the sails and to fasten the ropes, some to ply the oars, others to bale out the water which poured over the sides of the ship, but all their efforts to make progress against the storm were unavailing. Their mast

fell with a great crash, their oars were carried away by the heavy seas, and at last their prow broke away and left the whole of one side of the ship exposed, so that the waters rushed in. The little vessel seemed about to be engulfed in the foaming billows, but she righted herself gallantly and struggled on against the blast. All that night they were tossed by the tempest; at one moment lifted up to the clouds by some huge wave, the next carried down to the very depths, they seemed about to be hidden for ever in the mass of raging

waters.

When morning broke they saw before them a bare rock, towards which the storm was fast driving them to certain destruction. The terrorstricken pilot made one more effort to turn the helm and steer off, but the rudder broke under his hand, and all hope of saving the ship was lost. The sailors lowered the cutter, and Ruggiero seeing the captain and his crew about to abandon the vessel, hastily prepared to follow them, but found. the little boat so heavily laden that he paused, and as he did so a wave struck it, and it went down with all on board. Some few rose again to the surface, and for a while struggled in the water, imploring the mercy of Heaven with loud shrieks and cries, but one by one they sank, and Ruggiero was left alone.

He was fortunately a good swimmer; so, seeing that the distance from the rock was not very