Chapter X

The Emperor sat silent with drooped head.
Ne'er rash in words, he never speaks in haste.
At last he rose. Proudly he looked and spake
Unto the messengers:--"Ye have well said
That King Marsile e'er stood my greatest foe!
On these fair-seeming words how far can I
Rely?" The crafty Saracen replied:
"Would you have hostages? you shall have ten,
Fifteen, yea, twenty. Though his fate be death
My son shall go, and others nobler still,
I deem. When to your lordly palace, home
Returned--when comes Saint Michael del Peril,
His feast, my Lord will follow to those springs,
He says, brought forth by God for you, and there
Baptized, a faithful Christian will become!"
Carl'magne makes answer:--"He may yet be saved!"
Aoi.