The Knight of the Leopard then disarmed himself of his heavy
panoply, his Saracen companion kindly assisting him to undo his
buckler and clasps, until he remained in the close dress of
chamois leather, which knights and men-at-arms used to wear under
their harness. The Saracen, if he had admired the strength of
his adversary when sheathed in steel, was now no less struck with
the accuracy of proportion displayed in his nervous and well-compacted figure. The knight, on the other
hand, as, in exchange
of courtesy, he assisted the Saracen to disrobe himself of his
upper garments, that he might sleep with more convenience, was,
on his side, at a loss to conceive how such slender proportions
and slimness of figure could be reconciled with the vigour he had
displayed in personal contest.
Each warrior prayed ere he addressed himself to his place of
rest. The Moslem turned towards his KEBLAH, the point to which
the prayer of each follower of the Prophet was to be addressed,
and murmured his heathen orisons; while the Christian,
withdrawing from the contamination of the infidel's
neighbourhood, placed his huge cross-handled sword upright, and
kneeling before it as the sign of salvation, told his rosary with
a devotion which was enhanced by the recollection of the scenes
through which he had passed, and the dangers from which he had
been rescued, in the course of the day.
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