At these words the king of Circassia and Rinaldo attacked one
another with all their force, one fighting on foot, the other on
horseback. You need not, however, suppose that the Saracen king
found any advantage in this; for a young page, unused to
horsemanship, could not have failed more completely to manage
Bayard than did this accomplished knight. The faithful animal
loved his master too well to injure him, and refused his aid as
well as his obedience to the hand of Sacripant, who could strike
but ineffectual blows, the horse backing when he wished him to go
forward, and dropping his head and arching his back, throwing out
with his legs, so as almost to shake the knight out of the saddle.
Sacripant, seeing that he could not manage him, watched his
opportunity, rose on his saddle, and leapt lightly to the earth;
then, relieved from the embarrassment of the horse, renewed the
combat on more equal terms. Their skill to thrust and parry were
equal; one rises, the other stoops; with one foot set firm they
turn and wind, to lay on strokes or to dodge them. At last
Rinaldo, throwing himself on the Circassian, dealt him a blow so
terrible that Fusberta, his good sword, cut in two the buckler of
Sacripant, although it was made of bone, and covered with a thick
plate of steel well tempered. The arm of the Saracen was deprived
of its defence, and almost palsied with the stroke. Angelica,
perceiving how victory was likely to incline, and shuddering at
the thought of becoming the prize of Rinaldo, hesitated no longer.
Turning her horse's head, she fled with the utmost speed; and, in
spite of the round pebbles which covered a steep descent, she
plunged into a deep valley, trembling with the fear that Rinaldo
was in pursuit. At the bottom of this valley she encountered an
aged hermit, whose white beard flowed to his middle, and whose