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rode swiftly away.
Satan was awakened by the joyful whinny of the flying steed, and immediately mounted upon a storm cloud
and started in pursuit, hurling a red-hot thunderbolt at Malagigi to check his advance. But the necromancer
muttered a magic spell and held up his crucifix, and the bolt fell short; while the devil, losing his balance, fell
to the earth, and thus lamed himself permanently.
[Sidenote: Bayard restored by Malagigi.] Count Aymon, in the mean while, had been obliged to flee from his
besieged castle, mounted upon a sorry steed instead of his fleet-footed horse. When the enemy detected his
flight, they set out in pursuit, tracking him by means of bloodhounds, and were about to overtake and slay him
when Malagigi suddenly appeared with Bayard. To bound on the horse's back, draw his famous sword
Flamberge, which had been made by the smith Wieland, and charge into the midst of his foes, was the work of
a few seconds. The result was that most of Aymon's foes bit the dust, while he rode away unharmed, and
gathering many followers, he proceeded to win back all the castles and fortresses he had lost.
Frightened by Aymon's successes, Charlemagne finally sent Roland, his nephew and favorite, bidding him
offer a rich ransom to atone for the murder of Lord Hug, and instructing him to secure peace at any price.
Aymon at first refused these overtures, but consented at last to cease the feud upon receipt of six times Lord
Hug's weight in gold, and the hand of the king's sister, Aya, whom he had long loved.
These demands were granted, peace was concluded, and Aymon, having married Aya, led her to the castle of
Pierlepont, where they dwelt most happily together, and became the parents of four brave sons, Renaud,
Alard, Guiscard, and Richard. Inactivity, however, was not enjoyable to an inveterate fighter like Aymon, so
he soon left home to journey into Spain, where the bitter enmity between the Christians and the Moors would
afford him opportunity to fight to his heart's content.
Years now passed by, during which Aymon covered himself with glory; for, mounted on Bayard, he was the
foremost in every battle, and always struck terror into the hearts of his foes by the mere flash of his blade
CHAPTER IX. 74
Flamberge. Thus he fought until his sons attained manhood, and Aya had long thought him dead, when a
messenger came to Pierlepont, telling them that Aymon lay ill in the Pyrenees, and wished to see his wife and
his children once more.
In answer to these summons Aya hastened southward, and found her husband old and worn, yet not so
changed that she could not recognize him. Aymon, sick as he was, rejoiced at the sight of his manly sons. He
gave the three eldest the spoil he had won during those many years' warfare, and promised Renaud (Reinold)
his horse and sword, if he could successfully mount and ride the former.
[Sidenote: Bayard won by Renaud.] Renaud, who was a skillful horseman, fancied the task very easy, and was
somewhat surprised when his father's steed caught him by the garments with his teeth, and tumbled him into
the manger. Undismayed by one failure, however, Renaud sprang boldly upon Bayard; and, in spite of all the
horse's efforts, kept his seat so well that his father formally gave him the promised mount and sword.
When restored to health by the tender nursing of his loving wife, Aymon returned home with his family.
Then, hearing that Charlemagne had returned from his coronation journey to Rome, and was about to
celebrate the majority of his heir, Aymon went to court with his four sons.
During the tournament, held as usual on such festive occasions, Renaud unhorsed every opponent, and even
defeated the prince. This roused the anger of Charlot, or Berthelot as he is called by some authorities, and
made him vow revenge. He soon discovered that Renaud was particularly attached to his brother Alard, so he
resolved first to harm the latter. Advised by the traitor Ganelon, Chariot challenged Alard to a game of chess,
and insisted that the stakes should be the players' heads.
This proposal was very distasteful to Alard, for he knew that he would never dare lay any claim to the prince's
head even if he won the game, and feared to lose his own if he failed to win. Compelled to accept the
challenge, however, Alard began the game, and played so well that he won five times in succession. Then
Charlot, angry at being so completely checkmated, suddenly seized the board and struck his antagonist such a
cruel blow that the blood began to flow. Alard, curbing his wrath, simply withdrew; and it was only when
Renaud questioned him very closely that he told how the quarrel had occurred.
Renaud was indignant at the insult offered his brother, and went to the emperor with his complaint. The
umpires reluctantly testified that the prince had forfeited his head, so Renaud cut it off in the emperor's
presence, and effected his escape with his father and brothers before any one could lay hands upon them.
Closely pursued by the imperial troops, Aymon and his sons were soon brought to bay, and fought so bravely
that they slew many of their assailants. At last, seeing that all their horses except the incomparable Bayard had
been slain, Renaud bade his brothers mount behind him, and they dashed away. The aged Aymon had already
fallen into the hands of the emperor's adviser, Turpin, who solemnly promised that no harm should befall him.
But in spite of this oath, and of the remonstrances of all his peers, Charlemagne prepared to have Aymon
publicly hanged, and consented to release him only upon condition that Aymon would promise to deliver his
sons into the emperor's hands, were it ever in his power to do so.
The four young men, knowing their father safe, and unwilling to expose their mother to the unpleasant
experiences of the siege which would have followed had they remained at Pierlepont, now journeyed
southward, and entered the service of Saforet, King of the Moors. With him they won many victories; but,
seeing at the end of three years that this monarch had no intention of giving them the promised reward, they
slew him, and offered their swords to Iwo, Prince of Tarasconia.
[Sidenote: Fortress of Montauban.] Afraid of these warriors, yet wishing to bind them to him by indissoluble
ties, Iwo gave Renaud his daughter Clarissa in marriage, and helped him build an impregnable fortress at
Montauban. This stronghold was scarcely finished when Charlemagne came up with a great army to besiege
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