away, led him away from
the danger and tumult of the battle-field. Out into the quiet country
they rode in silence, with five horsemen only following them. On they
journeyed through the blackness of the night and on until they reached
Amiens. But of their flight or journey or destination, not one of the
victors thought or cared, for the battle-field had become the seat of
wild rejoicing and of revelry.

On the field of Crecy great fires were being lighted by tired but
jubilant warriors, and torches flamed high to celebrate the victory of
the Black Prince and his army over an enemy ten times as strong in
numbers. And as the torches flashed and the fire-glow flamed high, King
Edward came down from his hill-top and before the whole army, in the
red glow of the blazing fires put his arms around the young prince, his
son, who had given battle so bravely to the French, and said with
solemn earnestness:

"Sweet son, God give you good perseverance. You are my true son, right
royally have you acquitted yourself this day, and worthy are you of a
crown."

What a moment that was for the young prince!

With the reverence due not only to a king but to his father, for so
were sons taught in those chivalrous days, Edward the Black Prince,
though hot with the joy of victory, bowed to the ground before his
father and gave him all the honour, as his king and commander.

And so ended the great day on which was fought the memorable battle of
Crecy, the result of which was not only deliverance of the English army
from an imminent danger, but also later the conquest of Calais, which
King Edward almost immediately besieged and won, and which remained in
the possession of the English from then until the time of Queen Mary.

And from that day, the Black Prince became the idol of the English
people, and the terror of the French, who cherished an almost
superstitious fear of his youthful valour and strategy in battle, and
the king, realising that there was stern stuff in his son, from that
day treated him as an equal, and discussed matters of gravest
importance with him, as with one in whose counsel he had implicit
confidence, and on the day after the battle, they might have been seen
arm in arm, walking together on the field of the combat, talking it
over in detail, and as they walked, the king asked his son:

"What think you of a battle? Is it an agreeable game?"

What the prince answered we do not know, but we do know that in after
ye