him, and in the
shock both were dishorsed, but before Sir Eustace could recover his seat
he was borne down to the ground by four others of the enemy, and was
bound and carried captive to the rear.

In the meantime the English archers kept up their incessant hail of
arrows upon the band under the French marshals. The English men-at-arms
passed through the gaps purposely left in the line of archers and drove
back the front rank of the enemy upon those following, chasing them
headlong down the hollow road again. The few survivors of the French
force, galloping back, carried confusion into the advancing division of
the Dauphin.

Before order was restored the Captal De Buch with his six hundred men
issued forth from his place of concealment and charged impetuously down
on the left flank of the Dauphin. The French, shaken in front by the
retreat of their advance guard, were thrown into extreme confusion by
this sudden and unexpected charge. The horse archers with the captal
poured their arrows into the mass, while the shafts of the main body of
the archers on the hill hailed upon them without ceasing.

The rumour spread among those in the French rear, who were unable to see
what was going forward, that the day was already lost, and many began
to fly. Sir John Chandos marked the confusion which had set in, and he
exclaimed to the prince:

"Now, sir, ride forward, and the day is yours. Let us charge right over
upon your adversary, the King of France, for there lies the labour and
the feat of the day. Well do I know that his great courage will never
let him fly, but, God willing, he shall be well encountered."

"Forward, then, John Chandos," replied the prince. "You shall not see me
tread one step back, but ever in advance. Bear on my banner. God and St.
George be with us!"

The horses of the English force were all held in readiness by their
attendants close in their rear. Every man sprang into his saddle, and
with levelled lances the army bore down the hill against the enemy,
while the Captal De Buch forced his way through the struggling ranks of
the French to join them.

To these two parties were opposed the whole of the German cavalry, the
division of the Dauphin, now thinned by flight, and a strong force
under the Constable de Brienne, Duke of Athens. The first charge of the
English was directed against the Germans, the remains of the marshal's
forces, and that commanded by the Constable. The two bodies of cavalry