FOLLY AND PRESUMPTION. 125

constable revealed the means of extricating the
armed pilgrims from their embarrassment; and the
king, assembling the princes and nobles, decided on
leaving the Duke of Burgundy on the Damietta
side with a sufficient force to guard the camp; and
then, mustering their men and mounting their
horses, they at midnight marched along the bank of
the canal to the ford pointed out by the Bedouin,
and awaited the break of day to dash through the
water and move towards Mansourah.

It was the morning of Tuesday, the 8th of Feb-
ruary, 1250— Shrove Tuesday — when the armed
pilgrims, under the auspices of King Louis, halted
on the Damietta side of the Achmoun, and awaited
the signal to pass to that on which Mansourah was
situated. Everything so far had gone quite as
smoothly as could reasonably have been expected.
Some horsemen, indeed, rode too near the margin of
the canal, and, getting on soft and slippery ground,
they and their horses fell in and were drowned.
Among them was Sir John of Orleans, a valiant
knight, who bore the French banner. But this was
a slight misfortune compared with that which the
folly and presumption of one man was preparing for
that ill-starred host.

At all times, and under all circumstances, the
Count of Artois was one of the most unreasonable
of human beings; and at this moment, so important
to Louis, to France, to the Crusaders, and to the
Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, nothing would
satisfy his ambition but being the first to cross. Not
unaware of his brother’s failings, Louis protested ;