ian knight, well acquainted with the customs of Eastern warriors,
did not mean to exhaust his good horse by any unnecessary exertion; and,
on the contrary, made a dead halt, confident that if the enemy advanced
to the actual shock, his own weight, and that of his powerful charger,
would give him sufficient advantage, without the additional momentum
of rapid motion. Equally sensible and apprehensive of such a probable
result, the Saracen cavalier, when he had approached towards the
Christian within twice the length of his lance, wheeled his steed to the
left with inimitable dexterity, and rode twice around his antagonist,
who, turning without quitting his ground, and presenting his front
constantly to his enemy, frustrated his attempts to attack him on an
unguarded point; so that the Saracen, wheeling his horse, was fain to
retreat to the distance of a hundred yards. A second time, like a hawk
attacking a heron, the heathen renewed the charge, and a second time
was fain to retreat without coming to a close struggle. A third time he
approached in the same manner, when the Christian knight, desirous to
terminate this illusory warfare, in which he might at length have been
worn out by the activity of his foeman, suddenly seized the mace which
hung at his saddle-bow, and, with a strong hand and unerring aim,
hurled it against the head of the Emir, for such and not less his enemy
appeared. The Saracen was just aware of the formidable missile in time
to interpose his light buckler betwixt the mace and his head; but the
violence of the blow forced the buckler down on his turban, and though
that defence also contributed to deaden its violence, the Saracen was
beaten from his horse. Ere the Christian could avail himself of this
mishap, his nimble foeman sprung from the ground, and, calling on his
steed, which instantly returned to his side, he leaped into his seat
without touching the stirrup, and regained all the advantage of which
the Knight of the Leopard hoped to deprive him. But the latter had
in the meanwhile recovered his mace, and the Eastern cavalier, who
remembered the strength and dexterity with which his antagonist had
aimed it, seemed to keep cautiously out of reach of that weapon of which
he had so lately felt the force, while he showed his purpose of waging a
distant warfare with missile weapons of his own. Planting his long spear
in the sand at a distance from the scene of combat, he strung, with
great address, a sh