us earl Amaury, who, rich though he was, coveted
the estates of the duke of Bordeaux, and whispered in the ear of his
master that the young men were rebels and traitors. By this time Charles
was old, and his mind, as well as his body, had waxed feeble; the crown
was too heavy for him, and he was thinking of resigning it to his son
Charlot. So Amaury cunningly represented to him that he must summon the
young men to his court without delay, and then himself plotted with
Charlot to waylay and kill them. But, though they made their plans with
great care, fortune was on the side of Huon and Gerard, for they
defended themselves so bravely that, though they were taken by surprise,
Gerard only received a slight wound, while Charlot was slain by Huon.

When Amaury returned to Paris with these dreadful tidings, the emperor
was beside himself with anger, and ordered Amaury to fight a duel with
Huon, who was the elder of the two, and bid him take heed not to spare
him. As Huon was young and slight, and Amaury one of the strongest men
at the court, neither the emperor nor the earl ever had a moment's doubt
with whom the victory would lie; but if Amaury was more powerful, Huon
was quicker on his feet, and before long he had stretched his enemy dead
upon the ground.

The emperor was watching the fight from a window of his palace, and his
anger at the triumph of Huon was so great that it very near killed him.
Still, as the duel had been fairly fought, he dared not punish Huon, and
he was forced to content himself with sending him on a mission to the
king of Babylon, knowing well the perils which would beset him on the
way.

The small vessel in which Huon sailed for Jerusalem met with so many
dangers that oftentimes the young duke thought that he would be dead
long before he had touched the shores of Palestine. Thrice they were
attacked by pirates, who were hardly beaten off; twice such terrible
storms arose that they were almost driven on the rocks, and once they
had much ado to avoid being drawn into a whirlpool. But somehow or other
they escaped everything, and Huon was safely landed on the holy soil
with his uncle Garyn and a few followers.

* * * * *

He was at first so thankful to be on dry land again that he felt as if
his journey was already over, but he soon found that the worst part was
yet to come. Leaving Jerusalem behind them, the little band entered a
desert, dreary and boundless as far