, 1859-10-18

Spanish, French, and Italian Cdpora!i, Of both
armies in equal numbers, they rolled up the
briefs, and placed them ii helmet to be toss
cd. Tie lot fell on Fabrizio Colonna, 0bignl
and Diego GarCa de Paredea, WHO immediate.
IL took the seats set apart for them, opened on
the table the books Of the Evangelists, and adj
ministered the cath to twenty-six champions.
They pledged themselves not to use any fraud
in the combat; swore that they had no charms
on their bodies or On their arms, and that they
would meet the chances Of the fight trusting
only to their own skill and natural strength.
The conditions were then read again by her
aid; 1t was agreed that every man could ran
som himself bis armz, ard his horse By t1le
payment Of one hundred ducats- One Of the
Italians then emptied on the tahle the money
they had carried, counted 1t, and gare it in
trust to the Judges. It was then thought that
tue French would do the same; but as they
did not moro, Prospcro Colouna, as gently as
lie could, remarked, -" And your money, gen.
,lemcn?' La Aotte came forward md answer
ed, with smile: "Signor Prospero. you will
see that wo have enough herc.n This imFcrt~
'iuent boast made the blood rush to the face Of
s1le Roman; but he restrained himself and
only remarked: "Better to kill the bear before
you sell the skin. But no matter; though il
was mutually agrcetl that tho ransom was to
he deposited before l.and, we will not allow
even this to bc any hindrance to the baltic.
Gentlemen lie added, addressing Ills men,
adid you hear? This knight looks upon the
affair rs settled It is but llt that you should
convince him Of lis mistake" We deem it
useless to remark that these contenptuous
manners made the blood boil very hot in tho
veins Of the Italians, but they gave. no other
answer to either sisnor .Prospcro or La Motto
than reyengcful scowl aud look Of def
ance.
These preliminaries being arranged, tho
Judges dismissed the champions, and half an
l,orr was given them to get ready. 4 corneter
On horseback, posted under the holms, would
give three blasts, the signal Of the onset.
They returned to their horses and mounted
them. The sponsors placed them at four feet
from each other, and both Colonna and Dayard
again examined the bits, the saddie-giHs, the
straps and buckles Of the armor;-and theirs
were the best experienced eyes Of the two
armies.
The review being over siguor Prospero
halted lis horse in the middle before tho line
Of his party, and with a loud voico said:
"Gcntlcmeu do not expect nc to encourage
you to meet tho struggle in Il manner worthy
of you-. ] eec Losnbards, Neapo!itans, Ro-
nans, Sicilians in your midst. Arc you not
all SONS Of Que Italy? Will not the homer of
tho victory be awarded equally to you all 7
Are you not here before Foreigners who brand
you Italians as cowarls? Only one word will
speak: see youder the infamous traitor,
Gra!auo d As,i? lie comes to the battle field
to hsten infamy on tho brow Of his brethren
Understand mel let him not leave The field
lliye."
Fieramosea whispered to Branca]eono who
stood by him: ssWere / not Under oath!
And Brancaleone answered: Ieaye it to mel
| t,ayc no rows. / know the vulnerable spot
Of his body!' .-
Brancaleons, from the day lie had listened tt
| tho adventures Of his friend, had great de-
sirn to kill Graiano, md thereby 10 sweeT
from lis way the only obstacle to his unio1
with Gineyra. Then knowing that he WINS t
t lc one Of the Italian champions he saw AZ
opportunity for satisfying his wishes.
By this time the sponsors had Withdrawn Il
their places: Bayard near the Judges md Co
| lonna under tho holms, The latter was mount
! ed on black horse, housed in vermilion clotl
embroidered with gold; he was armed at al
points except ut the. head, which he held III
before his men: full Of majesty and bolancss
quietly waiting tue signal Of the battle. III
lad al lis side his page, a handsome youth g
sixteen, in dress Of sky-blue, and cslrmin
hose; he had, besides, several military attend
ants in different capacities, who, although. mo
tionless as statues, still betray ed souls fire.
with energetic and martial spirit As the tim
advanced, tl.s talking became fa!nter and les
frequent; only broken word was now AT
then uttered in whisper.
The asscmblaye presented a solemn an
rrare ,noearance in its Stiffness, interrnpte
ouir now and then by the restless M wing an
neie1inr & Of the horses, which, having bee
tent Iour at rest and highly fed, now could b
scarcclv held within tic lne, and cl,anpcd tn
| Inv Golden hts. bespa,tered them with frots
aud arcl,ed their necks and tails; they rearct
suortcd. and nsfred with exnauded and bloot
Slot nostrils. and their oycs flashed like lire.
II il not 70 yery casy to form m adequas
idea If tho martial appearance Of a mana
arms or those dars as both h, aud his va
horse were ACQUIRED in iron from head to foo
| Tho ,-n;pht witt, clas1ed y;sor sheathed in b