Roland next proceeded to Cologne, where he reestablished order and repaired the damage done by the Saracens, and later sojourned to the court of Paris with his prisoner. There his glory and renown was much enhanced by the mercy he showed Almonasar, for Roland, generous as the brave always are, accorded him his liberty with the approval of the emperor and sent him to his own country, he first having made oath of fidelity. CHAPTER X. When Charlemagne had a project in his mind, and particularly a project of vengeance, he never abandoned it. And now being disembarrassed of the Saracens, he lent a willing ear to the urgings of Ganelon and his friends, to go to the punishment of the King of Acquitaine, for his refusal to yield up the brave Maugis and the sons D’Aymon. Ganelon, in his infatuation, still harbored the idea of destroying Maugis and gaining possession of the lovely Yolande. In those old days might was right and the perfidious courtier easily found those who, through envy, malice or hatred, would aid him in his infamous schemes. The emperor summoned his counsellors and laid his plans before them. Roland, elated by his first victory, proposed to invest Montaubon and punish the rebellious young knights. Therefore orders were issued for the assemblage of all the soldiers the kingdom contained at Paris, the following April. At the designated time there duly arrived the principal lords of the realm, followed by numerous troops. Solomon de Bretagne with all the nobility of his domain, Dizier d’Espagne with six thousand soldiers, Bertrand d’Allemagne with two thousand men, Richard de Normandie with a crowd of knights assembled from all parts to take part in the war. And then, the Archbishop Turpin arrived at the head of a choice troop. All these small armies united gave a total of one hundred thousand men, who were placed under the immediate command of Roland. Charlemagne, to show the great confidence he felt in him, himself contributed thirty thousand men, raised by an extraordinary levy, and on the day of departure, at the very moment that Roland mounted his horse, Charlemagne confided to his hands the keeping of his royal banner. It truly seemed as if these formidable preparations insured the doom of the gallant Maugis, who now was enjoying every moment of his blissful honeymoon with his beautiful bride, all unconscious in his great happiness of the awful cloud that hung so threateningly over his future; he little dreaming of the dreadful tribulations cruel fate had yet in store for him. It was not long before his dream of love had a rude awakening. The approach of the great army was duly heralded, and a few days after had arrived before the fortress of Montaubon. Roland would have made an immediate assault, but Charlemagne in his wider experience deemed it better to give the troops needed rest and at the same time employ the time in an endeavor to effect some arrangement.