CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE, THE BOY WHO WON A BATTLE.
The sun rose brightly over the little village of Crecy on the morning of Saturday, August 26, 1346.

The golden corn was standing in the fields, the cattle were quietly grazing in the meadows, the birds were twittering in the woods, and in the still morning air rose the gentle murmur of a joyous stream.

Everything spoke of peace that bright summer morning; little could one have dreamed that before that sun should have set in the west the din and thunder of battle would wake the echoes of those quiet woods, or that those sunny fields would be torn and desolated by the angry tread of thousands of feet, or strewn with heaps of dead or dying! Yet so it was to be.

A large army was even then halting in the cover of the forest over against the village, and far, far away, if any one had listened, might have been heard, mingling with the voices of the morning, the sound of a great host of horsemen and soldiers advancing in hot pursuit, with now and then a trumpet blast which echoed faintly among the hills.
The English soldiers, as they rose from their beds of turf and grass, heard those far-off sounds, and knew--who better ?--they must fight like men to-day or perish.
So they sprang to their feet and seized their arms and armour, ready at any instant to obey the summons to action.
Suddenly along the ranks came the cry, "The king and the prince!" and directly afterwards appeared the great King Edward the Third of England riding slowly down the line of his army, and at his side a stately boy of sixteen years, dressed in black armour and mounted on a black horse.
Never was king more honoured or king's son more loved than were these two as they passed with cheery word and dauntless bearing among their loyal and devoted soldiers.
The king stopped when he had reached a spot from which a good portion of his host could hear him, and raised his hand.
Every man stood silent as he spoke.
"My loyal subjects, we must meet to-day a host greater than we in number, but not greater in valour.

Fight, I charge you, for the honour of your country.