"Ah Ciel!" he cried in dismay; "then shall we fly before them?"
"Not so," she answered; "but they will fly so fast before us that
we shall need good spurs to keep up with them!"
And so, indeed, it was. Perhaps it was the sight of the elan of the
French troops, perhaps the fear of the White Witch, perhaps because
taken at unawares and in confusion, but the English for once made
no stand. Fastolffe and his men, on the outer skirts of the force,
rode off at once in some order, heading straight for Paris, but the
braver and less prudent Talbot sought, again and again, to rally
his men, and bring them to face the foe.
But it was useless. The rout was utter and complete. They could not
stand before the Maid; and when Talbot himself had fallen a
prisoner into our hands, the army melted away and ran for its life,
so that this engagement is called the "Chasse de Patay" to this
day.
CHAPTER XV. HOW THE MAID RODE WITH THE KING.
Thus the English were routed with great loss, their leading
generals prisoners in the hands of the Maid, and the road for the
King open, not to Rheims alone, but to the very walls of Paris, had
he so chosen.
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