ded into two bands, and were instructed to
descend cautiously by rope-ladders into the ravine on the eastern side
of the town. Thence without sound of tongue or foot they were to steal
through the darkness till they had reached certain positions on the
flanks of the besiegers, where they were to wait for the signal of
onset. Frate Agnolo gave each of them his blessing, as one by one they
slid over the wall on to the rope-ladders and disappeared in the
blackness of the ravine. Noiselessly they marched under the walls of
the town till they reached their appointed posts, and there they lay
hidden in the woods till morning.

The Free-lances were early astir. As the first ray of golden light
streamed over the pine woods on to the ridge and the valley, the bells
of the Cathedral began to ring; the heavy gate of the castello was
flung open, and the children trooped out laughing and gay, just as they
had burst into the square a few months ago, for this, they were told,
was to be a great feast and holiday. As they issued through the deep
stone archway they filed to right or left, and drew up in long lines
across the width of the ridge. Then raising their childish voices in a
simple hymn, they all moved together down the rough slope to the lines
of the besiegers. Brother Agnolo, holding a plain wooden cross high
above his head, led the way, singing joyously.

It was a wonderful sight in the clear shining air of the hills, and
hundreds of women weeping silently on the walls crowded together to
watch it; and as they watched they held their breath, for suddenly in
the golden light of the morning they saw that behind each child there
was a great white-winged Angel with a fiery spear.

Then, as that throng of singing children and shining spirits swept down
upon the Free-lances, a wild cry of panic arose from the camp. The
eight hundred horsemen turned in dismay, and plunged through the ranks
of the men-at-arms, and the mercenaries fell back in terror and
confusion, striking each other down and trampling the wounded underfoot
in their frantic efforts to escape. At that moment the hill-men who
were lying in ambush on each flank bore down on the bewildered
multitude, and hacked and hewed right and left till the boldest and
hardiest of the horsemen broke and fled, leaving their dead and dying
on the field.

[Illustration: _The eight hundred horsemen turned in dismay_]

So the little hill-town of Spinalunga was saved by the c