And as he went by a great desert, he saw a great company of knights, of which a knight cruel and horrible came to him and demanded whither he went, and Christopher answered to him and said:  I go seek the devil for to be my master.  And he said:  I am he that thou seekest.  And then Christopher was glad, and bound him to be his servant perpetual, and took him for his master and Lord.  And as they went together by a common way, they found there a cross, erect and standing.  And anon as the devil saw the cross he was afeard and fled, and left the right way, and brought Christopher about by a sharp desert.  And after, when they were past the cross, he brought him to the highway that they had left.  And when Christopher saw that, he marvelled, and demanded whereof he doubted, and had left the high and fair way, and had gone so far about by so aspre a desert.  And the devil would not tell him in no wise.  Then Christopher said to him:  If thou wilt not tell me, I shall anon depart from thee, and shall serve thee no more.  Wherefor the devil was constrained to tell him, and said:  There was a man called Christ which was hanged on the cross, and when I see his sign I am sore afraid, and flee from it wheresoever I see it.  To whom Christopher said:  Then he is greater, and more mightier than thou, when thou art afraid of his sign, and I see well that I have labored in vain, when I have not founden the greatest Lord of the world.  And I will serve thee no longer, go thy way then, for I will go seek Christ.  And when he had long sought and demanded where he should find Christ, at last he came into a great desert, to an hermit that dwelt there, and this hermit preached to him of Jesu Christ and informed him in the faith diligently, and said to him:  This king whom thou desirest to serve, requireth the service that thou must oft fast.  And Christopher said to him:  Require of me some other thing, and I shall do it, for that which thou requirest I may not do.  And the hermit said:  Thou must then wake and make many prayers.  And Christopher said to him:  I wot not what it is; I may do no such thing.  And then the hermit said to him:  Knowest thou such a river, in which many be perished and lost?  To whom Christopher said:  I know it well.  Then said the hermit:  Because thou art noble and high of stature and strong in thy members, thou shalt be resident by that river, and thou shalt bear over all them that shall pass there, which shall be a thing right convenable to our Lord Jesu Christ whom thou desirest to serve, and I hope he shall show himself to thee.  Then said Christopher:  Certes, this service may I well do, and I promise to him for to do it.  Then went Christopher to this river, and made there his habitacle for him, and bare a great pole in his hand instead of a staff, by which he sustained him in the water, and bare over all manner of people without ceasing.  And there he abode, thus doing, many days.  And in a time, as he slept in his lodge, he heard the voice of a child which called him