his servants and horses waiting for him in the square before the hôtel, but they had not more than eight or ten torches, which the varlets lighted. When the constable was mounted, and the torches were borne before him, he rode down the broad street of St. Catherine.

"Sir Peter de Craon's spies had this day been on the watch, and he knew every particular relative to the constable, — of his staying behind the rest of the company,

and the exact number of his horses and attendants. He had, in consequence, quitted his hôtel with his men all mounted and secretly armed; but there were not six of them who knew what his real intentions were. He advanced to the causeway, near the Place of St. Catherine, where he and his people lay hid, waiting for the constable to pass. As soon as the constable had left the street of St. Pol, and turned into the

square of the great street, advancing a foot's pace, with a torch on each side to light him, he began a conversation with one of his squires, saying-'I am to have at dinner, to-morrow, my lord of Touraine, the Lord de Coucy, Sir John de Vienne, Sir Charles d'Angers, the Baron d'Angers, the Baron d'Ivry, and several more: be sure take care they have all things comfortable, and let nothing be spared.'

his

"As he said this, Sir Peter de Craon and

company advanced, and, without saying a word, fell on the constable's attendants and extinguished the torches. The constable, hearing the clatter of the horses behind him, thought it was the Duke of Touraine who was playing him a trick, and cried out 'My lord, by my faith, this is very ill done; but I excuse it, for you are so young you make a joke of everything.'

"At these words Sir Peter de Craon,

drawing his sword from the scabbard, said, 'Death! death! Clisson, you must die.'

66 6

Who art thou,' said Clisson, 'that utterest such words ?'

66

"I am Peter de Craon, thy enemy, whom thou hast so often angered, and thou shalt now pay for it.' Then calling to his people, he said, 'Advance! advance! I have found him I was in search of, and whom I have long wanted to seize.' He then struck him several blows, and his men, drawing their swords, fell on him. Sir Oliver was quite unarmed, having only a short cutlass, not two feet long, which, however, he drew, and defended himself with it as well as he could. His servants, being quite defenceless, were soon dispersed. Some of Sir Peter's men asked if they were to murder all?

"Yes,' replied he, all who put themselves in a posture of defence.'

"They could not resist the attack, for they were but eight, and without armour. Sir Peter's men fully intended to murder the constable, and their master wished nothing more than to see it done; but, as I heard from some of those who had been in this attack, the moment they learnt that the person they were assassinating was the constable of France, their arms became, as it were, nerveless through surprise, and their blows were given weakly through fear, for in perpetrating wickedness none are bold.

"The constable parried the blows tolerably well with his short cutlass; but his defence would have been of no avail, if God's providence had not protected him. He kept steady on horseback some time, until he was villanously struck on the back part of his head, which threw him off his horse. In his fall he hit against the hatch

of a baker's door, who was already up to attend to his business and bake his bread. Having heard the noise of horses on the causeway and high words, the baker had, fortunately for the constable, half opened the hatch, and Sir Oliver falling against it, burst it quite open, and rolled into the shop. Those on horseback could not follow him, as the entrance was neither wide nor high enough, and besides they did their work like cowards. It must be owned for truth that God showed great favour to the constable: if he had not fallen exactly against the hatch, or if it had been closed, he would infallibly have lost his life, and have been trampled to death by the horses, for they were afraid to dismount. Several of them imagined, even Sir Peter de Craon and the person who had hit him, that the blow on his head which unhorsed him must cause his death; Sir Peter therefore said, 'Come,