But Nigel was not long unavenged. The huge iron club of Belford
struck the dwarf Raguenel to the ground, while Belford in turn was
felled by a sweeping blow from Beaumanoir. Sometimes a dozen were
on the ground at one time, but so strong was the armor, and so
deftly was the force of a blow broken by guard and shield, that
the stricken men were often pulled to their feet once more by
their comrades, and were able to continue the fight.
Some, however, were beyond all aid. Croquart had cut at a Breton
knight named Jean Rousselot and had shorn away his shoulder-piece,
exposing his neck and the upper part of his arm. Vainly he tried
to cover this vulnerable surface with his shield. It was his
right side, and he could not stretch it far enough across, nor
could he get away on account of the press of men around him. For
a time he held his foemen at bay, but that bare patch of white
shoulder was a mark for every weapon, until at last a hatchet sank
up to the socket in the knight's chest. Almost at the same moment
a second Breton, a young Squire named Geoffrey Mellon, was slain
by a thrust from Black Simon which found the weak spot beneath the
armpit. Three other Bretons, Evan Cheruel, Caro de Bodegat, and
Tristan de Pestivien, the first two knights and the latter a
squire, became separated from their comrades, and were beaten to
the ground with English all around them, so that they had to
choose between instant death and surrender.
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