"My champions, cast these dogs out at the gate of the abbey, and let them hurry to announce to Charles the Simple that--I want--to marry his daughter Ghisèle--Yes, I want that maid for my wife." "Yes, yes! You shall wed the princess!" cried the pirates, delighted at the whim of their chief; and dragging the Parisian skippers despite all the resistance that they offered, drove them out of the abbey of St. Denis at the point of their swords. CHAPTER X. ROLF'S COURTSHIP. The large fleet of the pirates pulled from the banks on which the abbey of St. Denis rose, and, driven by a favorable wind, steered for Paris since early sunrise of the next morning. The fleet numbered more than two thousand vessels, carrying twenty-five thousand combatants. The sailing order was determined by the river's channel. The light vessels of the draft of _holkers_ navigated close to the two banks; toward the center of the river sailed the "_snekars_", vessels with twenty oarsmen's benches; finally along the deepest part of the channel came the "_drekars_", men-of-war that greatly resembled the Roman galleys. Thick sheets of iron defended the flanks of the latter; a "_kastali_", a semicircular wooden tower from eight to ten feet high, rose at their poop. Posted upon the platform of these towers, the Northmans hurled against their foe stones, bolts, javelins, fire-brands, heavy beams of wood, and also fragile little vases filled with a corrosive dust that blinded whoever sought to board them, while other pirates, armed with long scythes, cut the cordage of the hostile ships.