laught of the painims. Roland then
bound a Saracen captive to a tree, wrung from him a confession of the
dastardly plot, and, discovering where Marsiglio was to be found, rushed
into the very midst of the Saracen army and slew him. The Saracens,
terrified at the apparition of the hero, beat a hasty retreat, little
suspecting that their foe had received a mortal wound, and would shortly
breathe his last.

During the first part of the battle, Roland, yielding to Oliver's entreaty,
sounded a blast on his horn Olivant, which came even to Charlemagne's ear.
Fearing lest his nephew was calling for aid, Charlemagne would fain have
gone back had he not been deterred by Ganelon, who assured him that Roland
was merely pursuing a stag.

"Rolland raised to his lips the olifant,
Drew a deep breath, and blew with all his force.
High are the mountains, and from peak to peak
The sound reechoes; thirty leagues away
'Twas heard by Carle and all his brave compeers.
Cried the king: 'Our men make battle!' Ganelon
Retorts in haste: 'If thus another dared
To speak, we should denounce it as a lie.'
Aoi"
_Chanson de Roland_ (Rabillon's tr.).

[Sidenote: Steed Veillantif slain.] Wounded and faint, Roland now slowly
dragged himself to the entrance of the pass of Cisaire,--where the Basque
peasants aver they have often seen his ghost, and heard the sound of his
horn,--and took leave of his faithful steed Veillantif, which he slew with
his own hand, to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy.

"'Ah, nevermore, and nevermore, shall we to battle ride!
Ah, nevermore, and nevermore, shall we sweet comrades be!
And Veillintif, had I the heart to die forgetting thee?
To leave thy mighty heart to break, in slavery to the foe?
I had not rested in the grave, if it had ended so.
Ah, never shall we conquering ride, with banners bright unfurl'd,
A shining light 'mong lesser lights, a wonder to the world.'"
BUCHANAN, _Death of Roland_.

[Sidenote: Sword Durandana destroyed.] Then the hero gazed upon his sword
Durandana, which had served him faithfully for so many years, and to
prevent its falling into the hands of the pagans, he tried to dispose of it
also. According to varying accounts, he either sank it deep into a poisoned
stream, where it is still supposed to lie, or, striking it against the