me to himself, who should he be but Messire Robert Heron,
the same whom I took at Orleans!

Who, when he knew me, took off his salade for greater ease, and, sitting
down on a rock by the way, swore as never I heard man swear, French,
English, Spaniard, or Scot; and at length laughed, and said it was
fortune of war, and so was content. This skirmish being thus ended, we
returned, blithe and rich men every one of us, what with prisoners,
horses, arms, and all manner of treasure taken with the baggage. That
night we slept little in Guermigny, but feasted and drank deep. For my
own part, I know not well where I did sleep, or how I won to what bed,
which shames me some deal after all these years.

On the morrow we left Guermigny to the garrison of the place for their
ill-fortune, and rode back towards Compiegne.

And this was the sport that the Burgundians had in hare-hunting.

This Battle of the Hares was the merriest passage of arms for our party,
and bourdes were made on it, and songs sung, as by the English on that
other Battle of the Herrings. Now, moreover, I might be called rich,
what with ransoms, what with my share of the plunder in horses, rings,
chains of gold, jewels, silver dishes, and rich cloths, out of the
baggage of the enemy. Verily lack of wealth could no more sunder Elliot
and me! For Pothon was as open of hand as he was high of heart, and was
no greedy captain, wherefore men followed him the more gladly.

CHAPTER XXIX--SHOWETH HOW VERY NOBLE WAS THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY

All this was well, but we were no nearer Rouen, and the freeing of the
Maid, on this twentieth of November, than we had been when the siege of
Compiegne broke up, on the twenty-sixth of October.

The Duke of Burgundy, we learned, was like a man mad when he heard of the
Battle of the Hares. Nothing would serve him that day but to lead all
his host to Guermigny from Peronne, whence he would have got little
comfort of vengeance, for we were in a place of safety. But Jean de
Luxembourg told him that he must not venture his nobility among routiers
like us, wherein he pleased the Duke, but spoke foolishly. For no man,
be he duke or prince, can be of better blood than we of the House of
Rothes, not to speak of Xaintrailles and many other gentlemen of our
company.

The Duke, then, put not his noble person in any jeopardy, but, more
wisely, he sent messengers after my Lord of Huntingdon that he should
bring up the English to