100 THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book i.

openly, or sacking cottages, set them on fire, insulted,beat, or even murdered the peasantry; and acted inlike manner towards the outskirts of some towns,whereupon the terrified and irritated Bulgariansrushed to arms, and cut many of the others to pieces—to say nothing of sixty whom they burned in achurch to which they had fled for protection, butperhaps deserved to find none; on which Sansavoirstruck off into the forests and wildernesses. Never-theless a considerable portion of the wretched fore-runners got to Constantinople, and remained twomonths under its walls; the emperor wisely refusingto let them inside the gates, but permitting themto wait there for the hermit, where they sorrilycould keep soul and body together, on the coarsestfood, doled out to them with the unkindestparsimony.

At length the hermit had reached Semlin—citycalled by him Maleville, from the bad reception itoffered them—namely sixteen, not indeed corpses,but arms and garments of so many of their ownvanguard by way of a scare-crow, to deter themfrom following the example of those culprits; atwhich he in a rage gave the signal for war, and atthe blast of a trumpet the desperate assailants slewforty thousand of the peaceable inhabitants.Which horrid atrocity made the King of Hungary