Page:History of the Franks.djvu/78

46 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS rains. When he had prayed to the Lord in the night to show him a ford where he could cross, in the morning by God's will a hind of wonderful size entered the river before them, and when it passed over the people saw where they could cross. When the king came to the neighborhood of Poitiers and was encamped some distance off, he saw a ball of fire come out of the church of Saint Hilarius and pass, as it were, over him, to show that, aided by the light of the blessed confessor Hilarius, he shoudd more boldly conquer the heretic armies, against which the same bishop had often fought for the faith. And he made it known to all ttj^ aVmy that neither there nor on the way should they spoil , any t)n€> or take any bne'^ property. ' '^^ ' There was in these days a man .^f^praiseworthy hohiiess, the abbot Maxentius, who had become a recluse in his own monastery in Poitou because of his fear of God. We have not put, the name of the monastery in this account because the place is called to the present day Cellula sancti Maxentii. And when his monks saw a division of the host approaching the monastery, they prayed to the abbot to come forth from his cell to consult with them. And as he stayed, they were panic-stricken and opened the door and dragged him from his cell. And he hastened boldly to meet the enemy to ask for peace. And one of them drew out his sword to launch a stroke at his head, and when he had raised his hand to his ear it became rigid and the sword fell. And he threw himself at the feet of the blessed man, asking pardon. And the rest of them seeing this returned in great fear to the army, afraid that they should all perish together. The man's arm the holy con- fessor rubbed with consecrated oil, and made over it the sign of the cross and restored it to soundness. And owing to his protec- tion the monastery remained uninjured. He worked many other miracles also, and if any one diligently seeks for them he will find them all in reading the book of his Life. In the twenty-fifth year of Clovis. Meantime king Clovis met with Alaric, king of the Goths, in the plain of Vouille at the tenth mile-stone from Poitiers, and while the one army was for fighting at a distance the other tried to come to close combat. And when the Goths had fled as was their custom, king Clovis won the victory by God's aid. He had