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CHAPTER XXX.
ST. LOUIS IN CHAINS.

; HEN King Louis was led away by the faithful

Seorines, and when he was so exhausted that

he had to be lifted from his steed and carried into a

house, and when the Crusaders outside were in dis-

may and despair, Philip de Montfort entered the

chamber where the saintly monarch was, and pro-
poséd to renew negotiations with the Saracens.

‘Sire,’ said De Montfort, ‘I have just seen the
emir with whom I formerly treated; and, so it be
your good pleasure, I will seek him out, and demand
a cessation of hostilities,’ |

‘Go,’ replied Louis; ‘and, since it can no better
be, promise to submit to the conditions on which the
sultan formerly insisted.’

Accordingly De Montfort went; and the Saracens,
still fearing their foes, and remembering that the
French held Damietta, agreed to treat. A truce was,
indeed, on the point of being concluded. Montfort
had given the emir a ring; the emir had taken off
his turban, and their hands were about to meet;
when a Frenchman, named Marcel, rushed in and
spoiled all.