sounded, and to start for Pignerol, where he would follow when he had eaten
a mouthful. Meantime the French were marching forward in haste, and were
about a mile and a half from Villafranca, when, coming out of a little
wood, they met the scouts sent by the lord Prospero to find them. When
these caught sight of the approaching enemy they turned straight round and
galloped off as hard as they could go. The lord of Humbercourt and his
archers pursued them at full speed, sending word to Bayard to make haste.

The French knights rode at such a pace that they reached the gate of the
town at the same time as the Italians, and with their cry of "France!
France!" they managed to keep the gate open until the arrival of the Good
Knight and the rest of their company, when after some sharp fighting it
was strongly held. They also secured the other gate of the town, but two
Albanians managed to escape and carry news of the disaster to a company of
four thousand Swiss about three miles off.

Prospero Colonna was surprised at dinner, and would have defended himself,
but when he saw that defence was hopeless he yielded himself most
reluctantly to this Bayard, whom he had vowed "that he would catch like a
pigeon in a cage." As he cursed his ill-fortune in having been thus taken
by surprise, instead of meeting the French in the open field, the Good
Knight with his usual courteous chivalry tried to comfort him, saying: "My
lord Prospero, it is the fortune of war! You lose now, and will win next
time! As for meeting us in the open field, it would be a great pleasure to
us French, for if you knew our men when they are roused to battle you would
not find it easy to escape...." The Italian lord replied coldly: "In any
case I should have been glad to have the chance of meeting!"

Besides Colonna, several great captains were taken prisoners, and the place
was found to be full of rich spoils, gold and silver plate, splendid