Orlando said nothing in answer to Uliviero; for in truth he had nothing to say.  He broke away to give orders to the camp; bade them take refreshment; and then addressing both officers and men, he said, “I confess, that if it had entered my heart to conceive the king of Spain to be such a villain, never would you have seen this day.  He has exchanged with me a thousand courtesies and good words; and I thought that the worse enemies we had been before, the better friends we had become now.  I fancied every human being capable of this kind of virtue on a good opportunity, saving, indeed, such base-hearted wretches as can never forgive their very forgivers; and of these I certainly did not suppose him to be one.  Let us die, if we must die, like honest and gallant men; so that it shall be said of us, it was only our bodies that died.  It becomes our souls to be invincible, and our glory immortal.  Our motto must be, ‘A good heart and no hope.’  The reason why I did not sound the horn was, partly because I thought it did not become us, and partly because our liege lord could be of little use, even if he heard it.  Let Gan have his glut of us like a carrion crow; but let him find us under heaps of his Saracens, an example for all time.  Heaven, my friends, is with us, if earth is against us.  Methinks I see it open this moment, ready to receive our souls amidst crowns of glory; and therefore, as the champion of God’s church, I give you my benediction; and the good archbishop here will absolve you; and so, please God, we shall all go to Heaven and be happy.”

And with these words Orlando sprang to his horse, crying, “Away against the Saracens!” but he had no sooner turned his face than he wept bitterly, and said, “O holy Virgin, think not of me, the sinner Orlando, but have pity on these thy servants.”

Archbishop Turpin did as Orlando said, giving the whole band his benediction at once, and absolving them from their sins, so that every body took comfort in the thought of dying for Christ, and thus they embraced one another, weeping; and then lance was put to thigh, and the banner was raised that was won in the jousting at Aspramont.

And now with a mighty dust, and an infinite sound of horns, and tambours, and trumpets, which came filling the valley, the first army of the infidels made its appearance, horses neighing, and a thousand pennons flying in the air.  King Falseron led them on, saying to his officers, “Now, gentlemen, recollect what I said.  The first battle is for the leaders only;—­and, above all, let nobody dare to lay a finger on Orlando.  He belongs to myself.  The revenge of my son’s death is mine.  I will cut the man down that comes between us.”

“Now, friends,” said Orlando, “every man for himself, and St. Michael for us all.  There is no one here that is not a perfect knight.”