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CHAPTER XXII.
THE BATTLE,

O sooner did Guy Muschamp find the door of his
prison opened, than he rushed out to ascertain
the cause of the tumult to which he was indebted for
liberty, and he discovered that the camp was deserted
and abandoned, save by the wounded and the slain.
Ifowever, he hastily donned his steel cap, possessed
himself of a short sword; and having with little
ditiiculty caught a stray horse, saddled and bridled,
he mounted, and rode forth with the idea of ee
the Crusaders, who by this time were disappearing
within the gates of Mansourah.

Fortunately, however, for Guy, he was not des-
tined to share the fate of his gallant countrymen
who fell victims to the vain folly of the Count of
Artois. Nevertheless, his danger was great. By
this time the Count of Brittany and a multitude of
warriors were riding towards Mansourah to aid the
Count of Artois; and, as the Saracens who came
out to oppose their progress rapidly spread over the
plain, Guy began to find his position somewhat
perilous, and to give himself up for lost. At that
iioment, however, his eye and his ear were attracted