CHAPTER XI.
On the next day King Yon went to Montaubon, and said to Maugis:
“At last, dear brother, am I able to apprise thee that it will be possible for thee and thy brothers to conclude peace with Charlemagne. This has come about through my good offices, and I have come to felicitate thee that thy struggles are over.”
Yon then made up a tissue of lies, cunningly devised for him by the abbé, giving color to the statement that he came to Maugis in behalf of the emperor to offer to the brothers D’Aymon terms of peace. He stipulated they should go the next day, all four, armed only with their swords, to meet Charlemagne on the plain of Vancoleurs.
“I will give you,” said the hypocritical king, “a few knights of my court to accompany you. To show your humility you will go mounted upon mules, and you will carry in your hands branches of roses and olives as a sign of reconciliation. The emperor will await you there with the Duke de Naimes, Oger, and twelve peers. You will throw yourselves on your knees at his feet and he will then pardon you and allow you to retain full possession of all your rights.”
At this happy news the face of Maugis lighted with joy, but it was soon clouded with doubt; although he feared no treachery from his brother-in-law, he had no confidence in Charlemagne.
“’Tis indeed good news,” said he, “that thou dost bring me, good brother, but canst thou assure me there is no treachery behind all these fair promises?”
“Do not fail to heed me, but go,” replied the base king. “Thou knowest well, brother, that I have thy interests truly at heart, and would not advise thee did I not know that it will be absolutely safe for thee to go. It were madness for thee now to scorn this chance to make thy peace with the emperor; it is thy last chance, avail thyself of it without fail.”
A little later, after the departure of King Yon, Maugis summoned his brothers in council, and acquainted them with the offers of the emperor. They were each and all seized with the same dire presentiments.
“If the King Yon tells the truth,” cried Alard, “that Charlemagne will really accord us his friendship, why does he exact we shall appear as if dishonored, why are we to go without arms to the middle of a plain, where if attacked we could all be easily killed without being able to resist. I distrust, brother, I distrust much that we are to be betrayed.”
“It is impossible!” declared Maugis, “that there can be any treason in an affair in which my brother-in-law, King Yon, is acting as a negotiator. He is above all baseness, and besides, you all know he made oath to us that we could count upon his loyalty.”
The council then broke up, the brothers by no means sharing the confidence of Maugis in the outcome, yet, deferring to his opinion, they hurried away to make preparations for the next day.
Maugis hastened to his own apartments, where he informed Yolande of his contemplated expedition the following day. She paled upon hearing of it, not being able to resist a feeling of fear that was insurmountable.
“Go not, my husband, I beseech thee,” she cried.
“There can be no danger,” explained Maugis; “thy brother Yon, he is incapable of deception, and it is he who is acting as intermediary between the emperor and us; surely I can rely upon his advice and assurances.”
“I care not, I care not,” responded Yolande. “Yon would not deceive you, perhaps, more quickly than another; but you must remember he is only human, and, like the rest of the world, would sacrifice any one else for his own interest. Mistrust then, Maugis, as I mistrust; if you go to the meeting, I feel you are all lost.”
“Dear one, thy fears are but phantoms,” tenderly replied Maugis, unconvinced and trying to reassure her.
“No! no!” responded Yolande; “my fears are real, why should you go like the vanquished without arms? Is that your place? no! go with arms in hand, if you must go, followed by your faithful knights, and meet them as equals, then I shall fear nothing.”
Against all this advice, the next day Maugis set out with his four brothers, followed by the ten lords of King Yon, to meet the Emperor Charlemagne. By this time King Yon, who had never before lost his honor, was half-tempted to regret the villainous action he was about to commit, but the abbé and Godefroy, ever at his side, confirmed his purpose by representing to him the enormous benefits to him of the action, and his heart was hardened and he remained silent.
At the head of the little troop, marching slowly onward, Maugis was confronted by a presentiment which caused him to fear there might be reason in the doubts expressed by his brothers and his wife. He, however, by an effort of will cast it aside, they, meanwhile, having arrived at the plain of Vancouleurs. It was a forbidding spot, being surrounded by dense forests, and had no possible issue for them in case of flight; besides, the river Gironde, which traversed it, four roads led from it; the road to France, the road to Portugal, the road to Spain, and road to the kingdom of Acquitaine; but these roads were now all guarded by ambuscades of five hundred men belonging to Charlemagne.
Surprised at not finding any one on the plain, Maugis and his little company proceeded across it and placed themselves at the foot of a steep rock, which was pierced by a narrow opening. Alard had by this time persuaded Maugis that they were betrayed, and that they were wise if they immediately retraced their steps; when, however, they attempted to do this, they suddenly encountered Foulques de Morillon at the head of three hundred men.
“We are betrayed!” shouted Maugis, then turning quickly to the knights of his escort, he cried: “Ah, gentlemen, you whom King Yon has sent to accompany us, you will give us your aid now?”
Then Godefroy, who was of the escort and who had hated Maugis from the time of his arrival at the court of Yon, responded, saying:
“Not we, we have been forced to accompany you against our will and neither myself nor any of these other lords are willing to give thee any assistance.” These half-defiant and half-sneering words had hardly died upon his lips when Maugis, seeing at last the trap into which they had been lured, turned upon him and with incredible quickness, with one stroke of his sword, cleft his head to the chin. The other knights then fled for safety and joined the side of the enemy.
“Come on, dear friends!” cried Maugis, “until we are taken we will defend ourselves like men of heart; we will fight here back to back, and will never submit to be taken alive.”
All four brothers embraced as if for a final adieu, and rolling their cloaks around their left arms to parry the blows, they grimly awaited the enemy, firm of foot and sword in hand.
Struck by their courage and coolness, Foulques de Morillon cried out to them:
“Yield thee; resistance is useless, King Yon hath given thee up, thou art surrounded on every hand, therefore surrender, for assistance is impossible.”
“Sayest thou so,” said Maugis defiantly in reply; “thy further lies are useless, except to insult brave knights after having betrayed them; liar and coward, defend thyself; I challenge thee to single combat.”
Foulques made no reply to this, but charged upon Maugis, lance at rest, and wounded him in the thigh. At this unexpected charge Maugis and his mule rolled together in the dust. Alard, seeing Maugis down, and fearing he had been killed, cried to his brothers:
“Let us yield, further struggle is useless.”
To their great surprise, however, Maugis arose, quickly disengaging himself from his mount, and threw himself in front of Foulques, who charged upon him again, endeavoring to run him down; quick as lightning Maugis evaded the charge by springing to one side, and then coming up behind the horse of his enemy he leaped upon the crupper in his rear, at the same time running him through with his sword, and throwing him to the earth. Maugis possessed now a horse and had also secured the lance and shield of De Morillon.
“Do not separate!” he shouted to his brothers, as he charged head down into the midst of the French forces. The first to meet his infuriated sword was the Duke of Cory, who fell lifeless. He then with one blow of his gigantic arm cleft Engenrrand to the saddle, and like a flash, without seeming to take breath, he fought fast and furious, until he had in all, one after the other, made eleven knights bite the dust.
His indomitable courage and spirit would have carried him further onward, but glancing behind, he saw Alard who, though wounded, was hastening to join him. Alard bestrode the horse and had taken the arms of one of the knights killed by his brother. Together the two now continued what was no less than a butchery; their enemies seemed stunned, they slew them one after another until in a few moments they were surrounded with a small mountain of the dead.
Not far behind were Richard and Guichard, dismounted, fighting step by step to join them.
The French, confident in their superior numbers, instead of seeking to kill the four brothers, endeavored to surround them and take them alive. They did succeed in separating them from Maugis, and were making a desperate attempt to capture Guichard, who, however, made such a vigorous resistance that he laid low in succession the first four who approached him. Richard had regained the rock, resolved to die rather than submit to capture. Maugis, completely carried away by the excitement of battle, followed by Alard, resolved to die rather than any of them be delivered into the hands of Charlemagne. With incredible fury they fought, cut, hacked, beat down and killed all before them, until they reached Guichard, who had been meanwhile overcome. Alard quickly cut the cords that bound him, put him on the horse of a dead enemy, giving him his arms. Guichard then paid back with interest his few moments of captivity.
During this time, Richard, who, next to Maugis, was the strongest of the brothers, had become separated from the rest. He tried at any sacrifice to rejoin them and they on their side sought for him. Richard, covered with wounds and spent with fatigue, was fast sinking down by the rock, without sufficient force to climb upon it. He was surrounded by a circle of knights whom he had killed. At this supreme moment, Gerard de Vanvier, cousin of Foulques de Morillon, seeing that he was nearly dead, charged upon him with his horse, lance abreast, and wounded him in the shoulder, but Richard, who had become somewhat rested, summoned all his strength and stopped his assassin with a terrible stroke of the sword, hurling him from his horse, then the conqueror and the conquered fell down together, the one nearly dead, and the other beyond recall.
The three brothers, who had been all this time fighting, were searching for Richard, without perceiving him, now gained the rock, and only then saw his figure lying in the midst of the bodies of his enemies. Maugis quickly ordered his two brothers to dismount and carry their wounded brother within the opening of the rock for shelter, he meanwhile would fight the enemy off.
“My poor brother!” cried Maugis, “you are the victim of the treachery of King Yon. May God preserve me until I have taken vengeance, for it shall be terrible.”
Alard and Guichard had tenderly raised the body of Richard and in the midst of a storm of projectiles of all sorts had borne him within the rock. During the journey he made a slight movement, opened his eyes and said to them:
“My dear brothers, go to the assistance of Maugis. I am yet strong enough to defend myself. I shall see you all again, for I am sure we will be able to extricate ourselves.”
Taking his advice, Alard and Guichard hastened to rejoin Maugis, whom they found surrounded by the bodies of dead enemies. Their own horses had disappeared, and making a sortie they easily captured more, and then continued the furious combat, being enabled finally to regain the opening of the rock, which they contented themselves in defending.
The four intrepid brothers, reunited, and for a time safe, were hoping that their enemy would withdraw, which was suddenly dashed to the earth, when Oger, at the head of three thousand men, appeared and completely surrounded them.
The situation now seemed indeed hopeless. Amid an impressive silence the grizzled old soldier, Oger, rode forward from the serried ranks and cried out in a stern tone:
“Wretched men, give thyselves up, resistance is useless; or,” he added menacingly, “take care of yourselves, for I shall not regard the family ties that exist between us, and I shall use every means to force you to obey me. The only thing for you to do is to cease your resistance.”
“You give yourself useless trouble,” replied Maugis defiantly, “we fear you not.”
During the time occupied by this parley, Richard had recovered himself, and had bound up his wounds from strips from his cloak. Alard likewise had bound up the wound in his thigh, stopping the flow of blood, and to the astonishment of the assembled host they all grimly ranged themselves side by side and awaited the onslaught of their astonished enemies, who marvelled at their courage; then, touched by compassion, Oger halted his soldiers, saying to them he would endeavor to persuade them to surrender.
He then approached near to the rock, and thus addressed them in kindly tones:
“My dear cousin, I pray you to surrender; it will be impossible for you to resist long; you will surely be slain, because nothing can prevent my soldiers from successfully assaulting the rock that shelters you. You have not sufficient means of defense in your swords and your lances. You have not even the resource of a pile of heavy stones with which to beat down your assailants when they seek to climb up the rock, and though you may see how much I admire your bravery, I shall stay here until you are completely subdued for want of food.”
“I thank you, my cousin,” replied Maugis in the same spirit, “and I should profit by thy advice, but that we never can forget the baseness of the plot which brought us to this dire extremity.”
At these words Oger shook his head sadly, and returned to his command, and Maugis climbed to the top of the rock to see in what way he could provide some means of defense. From the height thus gained he contemplated with pride the number of enemies they had slain, and then chancing to raise his eyes to the horizon he beheld a sight which caused the blood to leap quickening to his heart; a body of troops were advancing in all haste. He could hardly conceal his joy when he recognized at their head his cousin Renaud, mounted on Bayard, his own famous horse. He whispered joyfully in the ear of Guichard the welcome news, warning him to quietly acquaint the other brothers, in a manner that would not arouse the suspicion of their waiting and watching enemy.
Maugis now descended from the rock and sought to occupy in some manner the attention of Oger, in order to gain delay.
Though entirely deceived by Maugis, Oger could hear the murmurings of his soldiers, who demanded an assault on the rock should be made. He was about to return to them, when he was arrested by the voice of Maugis, saying:
“My good cousin, if thou hast kindly feeling to us, grant us an hour’s truce; you cannot refuse this request with a good conscience; you have three thousand men against four miserable knights; thou art assured of victory; never fear that Charlemagne will address you one reproach in that regard.”
“I will grant it thee willingly,” replied Oger, so he withdrew to his troops, and gave them the order to wait. At this their murmurings were loud and deep.
“Silence!” roared Oger, “the first man who stirs one step I will strike down with my sword.” This stern threat had the effect to keep them quiet.
A little more than half an hour had passed when Alard and Richard wished to recommence the battle.
“My good brother,” said Richard, “the troop of Renaud, now coming, is superior to that of Oger by over one thousand men; it is in our power to take a terrible vengeance, and this is how we can do it: let us advance upon them now, and get them so busily occupied that they will not perceive what is passing behind them; in this way we will enable Renaud to approach them in the rear and cut them to pieces; if, on the contrary, we let them become aware of the approach of our friends, the enemy may escape combat by flight and we will miss our revenge.”
This plan received the approval of the three brothers, and they accordingly descended from the rock, Maugis and Guichard leading the way, followed by Alard and Richard. The enemy upon witnessing this movement thought at once that the sons of Aymon, appalled by their numbers, and discouraged by their wounds, had decided to give up the contest, and were about to surrender. The veteran, Oger, could not bear the idea of their thus tamely giving themselves up. It was against that old fighter’s nature; accordingly he rode out toward the rock, and shouted to them:
“Be warned, young men, thou hast thy right to leave thy refuge, but know thou, I am ordered to take thee alive, conduct thee to Charlemagne, when he will put thee to an ignominious death. I would prefer much that as brave men thou shouldst die in battle rather than surrender thus tamely like men of no courage.”
This kindly advice caused a hot flush to suffuse the face of Maugis, and drawing up his tall form he fiercely replied:
“We will never surrender, we will die with our arms in our hands rather than that. Our cause is just, and we only hope you will not escape our vengeance, because you have basely betrayed us.”
Oger withdrew sadly upon this, his eyes filled with tears of pity, and rejoining his troops he ordered them to attack the four brothers; but his punishment was near at hand, for at that moment Renaud, who had successfully traversed the forest in their rear, came upon them, and before they could recover from their surprise, had completely surrounded them. Renaud rode ferociously at Oger, and aimed at him a terrible stroke of his sword, but he was carried away from the object of his attack by Bayard, who recognized his master.
Without delay the soldiers of Renaud, taking advantage of their surprise and stupor, fell upon the enemy and slew them with a most terrible carnage.
Fighting with the greatest ardor, the soldiers of Renaud had completely routed the command of Oger, but were temporarily arrested by the royal ambuscaders, who though in full retreat, stopped them so suddenly that the pursuers fell over each other. During the fight, Maugis, who had mounted his horse Bayard, had charged upon Oger and dismounted him; he then descended, and courteously assisting the veteran to remount, said to him:
“Thou hast not succeeded in bathing your hands in our blood, but you have participated in a treachery; you have acted the part of a coward. Go! you are despicable. Never come before me again or I will not be so forgiving.”
This taunt made Oger furious, and he charged upon Maugis, giving him a terrible stroke upon the head, which for an instant caused him to totter on his horse. Oger was about to renew the attack, when Alard and Guichard came up with some soldiers, and attacked the escort of Oger with great fury, putting them to flight, and massacring all who resisted; afterward they sought the wounded Richard and bore him to a place of safety.