A
third time he approached in the same manner, when the Christian
knight, desirous to terminate this illusory warfare, in which he
might at length have been worn out by the activity of his foeman,
suddenly seized the mace which hung at his saddle-bow, and, with
a strong hand and unerring aim, hurled it against the head of the
Emir, for such and not less his enemy appeared. The Saracen was
just aware of the formidable missile in time to interpose his
light buckler betwixt the mace and his head; but the violence of
the blow forced the buckler down on his turban, and though that
defence also contributed to deaden its violence, the Saracen was
beaten from his horse. Ere the Christian could avail himself of
this mishap, his nimble foeman sprung from the ground, and,
calling on his steed, which instantly returned to his side, he
leaped into his seat without touching the stirrup, and regained
all the advantage of which the Knight of the Leopard hoped to
deprive him. But the latter had in the meanwhile recovered his
mace, and the Eastern cavalier, who remembered the strength and
dexterity with which his antagonist had aimed it, seemed to keep
cautiously out of reach of that weapon of which he had so lately
felt the force, while he showed his purpose of waging a distant
warfare with missile weapons of his own.
Pages:
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52