Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of France by Alfred John Church

Not many hours after these things King Charles came to Roncesvalles. / It was a grievous sight that he saw; there was not a foot of earth on / which there lay not the body of some Frenchman or heathen. And the / King cried aloud, calling the dead men by name. "Where are you, / Roland? " he said; "and you, Oliver? " All the Twelve Peers whom he / had left behind to guard the passes he called, but no man answered. / Charles wept for sadness of heart, and his nobles wept with him; / there was not one of all that company but had lost son or brother or / comrade or friend. Then spake up the Duke Naymes, "Sire," said he, / "see you that cloud of dust, two leagues away? 'Tis the dust of a / great multitude, even of the heathen army. Ride, Sire, and take / vengeance for these warriors whom you have lost. " "What! " answered / the King, "are they already so far? Then must we make haste, for / they have robbed me of the very flower of France. " Then he turned to / his nobles, and called four by name, and said to them, "Guard this / field, these valleys and these hills. Let the dead lie as they are, / but take good care that no beast of the field touch them, nor any / follower of the camp. Make sure that no one lay a hand upon them / till I come back. " And the four answered, "So will we do, Sire; " and / the King left with them a thousand horsemen for a guard.

This done, he made haste to pursue the army of the heathen. The day / was drawing to sunset, but yet he overtook the enemy before darkness / fell. Some say that God wrought a great miracle for the King, / staying the sun in the heaven, till he should have avenged him of his / enemies. Be that as it may, this is certain, that he overtook the / Saracens and slew them with a great slaughter. Many fell by the / sword, and they who escaped the sword threw themselves into the / river, the river Ebro, and thus perished by drowning. And the men of / France cried, mocking them, "You have seen Roland; but it has not / turned to your good."