in open
rebellion against Bonnivet, and lost no time in crossing the river,
overjoyed to leave a losing cause and go back to their homes with so good
an excuse.

The unfortunate French commander was in despair and hoping to hide the
catastrophe from the pursuing enemy, he ordered a brisk skirmish, in which
he took part with plenty of courage and was severely wounded in the arm.
The Good Knight Bayard did prodigies of valour, driving back a whole
company of arquebusiers, but in the moment of triumph he was struck by the
stone from an arquebus and received mortal injury. Raising the hilt of his
sword in the sign of the cross, he cried aloud: "Miserere mei, Deus
secundum magnam misericordiam tuam!" He refused to be taken away, saying
that he had never turned his back on his enemy, and his faithful steward
Jacques Jeffrey and his squire lifted him from his horse and placed him
with his back to a tree, still facing the foe with a brave countenance.

We have a most pathetic and touching account of this last scene, in which
the Good Knight without Fear and without Reproach died as he had lived,
bearing himself with humble devotion towards God and loving care and
thought towards all men. His friends would have borne him away, but he
implored them to leave him and seek their own safety, for he was in such
terrible pain that he could not endure to be moved. He sent his last
salutations to the King his master, and to all his companions, and took an
affectionate leave of his heart-broken friends, who obeyed his command, all
but the one faithful attendant who remained with him to the end. This was
his steward, Jacques Jeffrey, and we are told of the poor man's grief and
despair, while his master sought to comfort him with brave and noble words.
"Jacques, my friend, cease your lament, for it is the will of God to take
me away from this world where by His grace I have long dwelt and received
more good things and honours than I deserve. The only regret that I have in
dying is that I have failed in my duty ... and I pray my Creator in His
infinite mercy to have pity on my poor soul...."

Nothing could exceed the consternation and sorrow which spread through the
French camp when the news reached them that Bayard was wounded and in
mortal agony. The same feeling was shared by his enemies, for to them the
name of Bayard represented the most perfect knight in all the world, the
pattern of chivalry whom every true man sought to imitate fro