depressing circumstances the bright, cheerful spirit of Bayard, the Good
Knight, was invaluable, and his mere presence kept his company in hope and
courage. He never missed an opportunity of engaging in any feat of arms,
and his famous defence of the bridge is perhaps the best known of all his
exploits.

There was a bridge across the Garigliano which was in the hands of the
French, and one day a certain Don Pedro de Pas, a Spanish captain, small
and dwarfish in body but great in soul, conceived a plan for obtaining
possession of it. With about a hundred horsemen he set off to cross the
river by a ford which he knew of, and behind each horseman he had placed a
foot-soldier, armed with an "arquebuse." Don Pedro did this in order to
raise an alarm in the French camp, so that the whole army might rush to
defend it, and leave unprotected the bridge, which would then be seized by
the Spaniards. Bayard, who always chose the post of danger, was encamped
close to the bridge, and with him was a brave gentleman, named le Basco.
When they heard the noise they armed themselves at once, and mounted their
horses in haste to rush to the fray. But as the Good Knight happened to
look across the river he caught sight of about two hundred Spanish horsemen
riding straight towards the bridge, which they would certainly have taken
without much resistance, and this would have meant the total destruction of
the French army.

[Illustration: Bayard defends the Bridge.]

Then the Good Knight cried to his companion, "My lord the Equerry, my
friend, go instantly and fetch our men to guard this bridge, or we are all
lost; meantime I will do my best to amuse them until you come, but make all
haste." This he did, and the Good Knight, lance in rest, galloped across
the bridge to the other end, where the Spaniards were on the point of