Hans of Iceland, Volume 2 by Victor Hugo — Read

Beat the drums! They come, they come! They have all sworn, and all / the same oath, never to return to Castile without the captive / count, their lord. / They have his marble statue in a chariot, and are resolved never to / turn back until they see the statue itself turn back. / And in token that the first man who retraces his steps will be / regarded as a traitor, they have all raised their right hand and / taken an oath. / And they marched toward Arlancon as swiftly as the oxen which drag / the chariot could go; they tarry no more than does the sun. / Burgos is deserted; only the women and children remain behind; and / so too in the suburbs. They talk, as they go, of horses and / falcons, and question whether they should free Castile from the / tribute she pays Leon. / And before they enter Navarre, they meet upon the frontier. / _Old Spanish Romance._

While the preceding conversation was going on in one of the forests on the outskirts of Lake Miösen, the rebels, divided into three columns, left Apsyl-Corh lead-mine by the chief entrance, which opens, on a level with the ground, in a deep ravine.