1 68 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



a stranger. He was given a bountiful meal and 

 clad in rich garments, such as he had worn in 

 former days, and then led into the presence of 

 the king. 



VII. THE PARDON 



Charlemagne offered to pardon the Dane and 

 to return to him all the vast estates which had 

 once been his, on condition that he would lead 

 the French host against the pagan army under 

 King Brehus. The old hero stood up, as tall and 

 as proud, and seemingly as strong as ever, and 

 answered that if he might wear his own armor 

 and ride the good war steed Broiefort, he would 

 undertake to drive every pagan out of France; 

 otherwise he could not go into battle, but would 

 return to his dungeon and leave the country to 

 its fate. 



Ogier's armor was quickly found, but nobody 

 remembered anything about his steed. The king 

 offered his own war-horse to the Dane, but when 

 Ogier leaned his great weight upon it the animal 

 was crushed to the ground. Several other steeds 

 were tried, but all with the same result. Finally, 

 an old priest who had just arrived from Meaux 

 said that he believed that Broiefort himself was 



