ith his sword. "Leave this man to me."

Pressing to the king's side, he still beat back his foes, saying to
him,--

"Yield, my liege! You stand alone. If you fight longer, I cannot answer
for your life. Look! there is no hope for you. The Duke of Bourbon is
not far off. Let me send for him to receive your sword."

The visor of the king hid the look with which he must have received
these words. But from the helmet's iron depths came in hollow tones the
reply of Francis of France to this appeal.

"No," he cried, sternly, "rather would I die the death than pledge my
faith to Bourbon the traitor! Where is the Viceroy of Naples?"

Lannoy, the viceroy, was in a distant part of the field. Some time was
lost in finding and bringing him to the spot. At length he arrived, and
fell upon one knee before Francis, who presented him his sword. Lannoy
took it with a show of the profoundest respect, and immediately gave him
another in its place. The battle was over, and the king of France was a
prisoner in the hands of his rebellious subject, the Duke of Bourbon.
The wheel of fate had strangely turned.

The captive king had shown himself a poor general, but an heroic
soldier. His victors viewed him with admiration for his prowess. When he
sat at table, after having his wounds, which were slight, dressed,
Bourbon approached him respectfully and handed him a dinner napkin.
Francis took it, but with the most distant and curt politeness. The next
day an interview took place between Bourbon and the king, in reference
to the position of the latter as captive. In this Francis displayed the
same frigidity of manner as before, while he was all cordiality with
Pescara, Bourbon's fellow in command. The two leaders claimed Francis as
their own captive, but Lannoy, to whom he had surrendered, had him
embarked for Naples, and instead of taking him there, sent him directly
to Spain, where he was delivered up to Charles V. Thus ended this
episode in the life of the Constable de Bourbon.

We have still another, and the closing, scene to present in the life of
this great soldier and traitor. It is of no less interest than those
that have gone before. Historically it is of far deeper interest, for it
was attended with a destruction of inestimable material that has rarely
been excelled. The world is the poorer that Bourbon lived.

In Spain he had been treated with consideration by the emperor, but with
disdain by many of the lords, who despised him