Our poet joined the suite of Galeazzo Visconti, and rode near him.

The Legate and his retinue rode also on horseback.

When the two parties met, the dust, that rose in clouds from the feet of the horses, prevented them from discerning each other.

Petrarch, who had advanced beyond the rest, found himself, he knew not how, in the midst of the Legate's train, and very near to him.
Salutations passed on either side, but with very little speaking, for the dust had dried their throats.
Petrarch made a backward movement, to regain his place among his company.

His horse, in backing, slipped with his hind-legs into a ditch on the side of the road, but, by a sort of miracle, the animal kept his fore-feet for some time on the top of the ditch.