who loves me follow me," and the whole army
followed and got safely to the other side.

Edward arranged his soldiers well, and went himself to the top of a
little hill where there was a windmill. From this he could see
everything that went on. The French had a far larger army than the
English, and when they came in sight of Edward's army and saw how well
placed it was, the wiser Frenchmen said, "Do not let us fight them
to-day, for our men and horses are tired. Let us wait for to-morrow and
then we can drive them back." So the foremost of the French army turned
back, but those behind were discontented and thought the fighting had
begun and that they had not had a chance. So they pushed forward till
the whole French army was close to the English.

[Illustration]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1346.]

King Edward had made all his soldiers sit on the grass and eat and
drink. Mounted on his horse he rode among them telling them to be brave,
for that they were now going to win a glorious victory and cover
themselves with eternal glory. At three in the afternoon the first
French soldiers came face to face with the Englishmen, and the battle
began. Some soldiers from Genoa who had been paid to fight for the
French king, said they did not want to fight, they were too tired and
could not fight as good soldiers should, but the men behind pressed them
on and they were beaten. A heavy rain fell, with thunder, and a great
flight of crows hovered in the air over all the battalions, making a
loud noise. Shortly afterwards it cleared up and the sun shone very
bright. But the French had it in their faces and the English at their
backs.

[Illustration]

When the Genoese drew near, they approached the English with a loud
noise to frighten them; but the English remained quite quiet, and did
not seem to attend to it. They then set up a second shout and advanced a
little forward. The English never moved. Still they hooted a third time,
and advanced with their crossbows presented and began to shoot. The
English archers then moved a step forward and shot their arrows with
such force and quickness that it seemed as if it snowed. The fight raged
furiously, and presently a knight came galloping up to the windmill and
begged the king to send help to his son, the Black Prince, as he was
sore pressed.

"Is my son in danger of his life?" said the king.

"No, thank God," returned the knight, "but in great need of your help."

Then the king answered: "Re