GLOOMY PROSPECTS. 100

sphere. A contagious disease was the consequence;
and this, being increased by the abstinence during
Lent, wrought such havoc, that nothing was heard
in the camp but mourning and lamentation. Louis,
sad, but still not in despair, exerted himself to mitigate
the sufferings of his army. At length he also fell sick,
and, every day, affairs wore a gloomier aspect.

‘It seems,’ said Guy Muschamp, who lay prostrate
with sickness in the tent of the Lord of Joinville, ¢ it
seems that Heaven has abandoned the soldiers of the
Cross.’

‘Hem,’ replied Bisset, to whom this was addressed,
‘I see not why Heaven should be blamed for the evils
which men bring on themselves by their own folly.
I warned you at Damietta what would be the end
of all the boastings which were uttered hourly. A
haughty spirit goes before a fall. Trust me, we have
not yet seen the worst. By the might of Mary, we
armed pilgrims may yet find ourselves under a
necessity similar to that which made cannibals of the
soldiers of King Cambyses when he made war in
Egypt?

‘King Cambyses ?’ repeated Guy, enquirinely.

‘Ay, replied Bisset, ‘he was King of Persia, and
almost as great a monarch as Kine Louis; and
when he was in this country his provisions ran short,
At first his soldiers lived on herbs, roots, and leaves;
when they could not get even these, they ate their
horses and beasts of burden; and, when the horses
and beasts of burden were finished, they began
to devour one another; and every tenth man. on
whom the lot fell, was doomed to serve as a meal for