ght to the notice of
King Charles; and the king was so charmed with his manners and his
horsemanship that he at once persuaded the Duke of Savoy to permit the
boy to be transferred to the royal service.

The good duke granted the king's request, for he knew it would be a
great advancement for the lad; and Pierre was placed under the Count of
Ligny for training.

Though Pierre loved the Duke of Savoy, he was very glad of this change
in his own fortunes; for he had all the romantic devotion to king and
country that chivalry was wont to implant in the hearts of men, and he
was first, last, and always a true Frenchman.

The next several years of Pierre's life were spent in service as page to
Ligny; after which the count made him a man-at-arms in his own company
and a gentleman of his household. This meant that the page, Pierre, had
become a knight, and was thenceforth to be known as "the Chevalier
Bayard."

Bayard's first exploit as a knight was to challenge and meet in
tournament the invincible Lord of Vaudray. The young chevalier was then
only seventeen years of age, and was weak and delicate in appearance,
while his opponent was reckoned one of the most powerful knights of the
time.

When the combatants entered the lists, it was easy to be seen that the
yellow-haired, black-eyed knight of seventeen was the one on whom every
lady's glance was bent. Men watched him too, but not on account of his
good looks; they had laughed at him scornfully when he presumed to
strike in challenge the shield of the celebrated Vaudray, and they now
looked to see him ignobly defeated.

To the astonishment of all, however, Bayard won the day. The men said
that he was too bold for one so young; but "the ladies praised him
enthusiastically," and the king exclaimed to Ligny,--

"By my faith, cousin, he hath given us to-day a foretaste of what he
will be as a man!"

The next several years of the young knight's life were spent in training
for the stern services of war. He failed in nothing that he conceived it
his duty to perform, and he neglected nothing that he felt would tend
to his own development, for he bore always in his heart the admonition
of the king he so reverenced: "Piquet, my friend, may God develop in
thee that fearless manhood which thy noble youth so graciously
promises."

At this time Italy was not under one government, but was separated into
six great divisions--the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the
Kingdom