THE RENEGADE TURNS HERMIT. 269

watered by a beautiful spring. On going to the
upper end of the garden, the king and his company
found an oratory, the roof of which was painted
white, with a red cross in the centre, and, in a cham-
ber more retired, two bodies laid toward the East,
with their hands on their breasts. Soon after the
king and his company, conversing about what they
had seen, returned on board their ship, and the
skipper was about to weigh anchor, when it was
discovered that one of the warriors who had gone
ashore was missing; and this caused much excite-
ment.

‘J think I can account for this,’ said the skipper.
© One of the sailors was desirous of turniug hermit,
and I doubt not he has seized so fair an opportunity.’

Walter Espec and Guy Muschamp exchanged
glances. It was Beltran the renegade, who had
thus devoted himself to solitude.

‘Well,’ said the king, on hearing this, ‘let three
sacks of biscuit be left on the shore; the man may
find them, and, if so, they will serve for sustenance.’

Soon after this an accident happened to one of the
squires on board the ship of one of the barons of
Provence, which, at the time, was about half a league
from that of the king. One morning, finding, as
he lay in bed, that the sea dashed into his eyes and
much annoyed him, he ordered the squire to stop
it up. Having in vain attempted to do so from the
inside, the squire went outside, and was endeavouring
to stop the hole, when his foot slipped and he fell
into the sea. The ship kept on her way without
the mariners being aware of what had happened,