In the meantime Henry used every artifice to raise another army; but such a panic had seized his adherents, that they declared they would rather be swallowed up in the earth than again encounter the Saxons.

When Otto and Welf were thus assured of Henry's immediate inability to injure them, they disbanded the troops which had served them so gallantly.

Much as the soldiers longed to return to their homes, they did not part without some reluctance.

They had long toiled side by side in the same glorious cause; they had shared the same dangers and the same pleasures.

They had slept and kept watch together.