Pope Julius saw the point at once and exclaimed:  “Certainly, we must have that place; I shall not rest until it is taken.”

We may imagine the dismay of the governor of La Bastida when he saw a formidable army arrive, for it happened at the time that he had only a weak garrison.  He instantly sent off a messenger to Ferrara, before the castle was surrounded and the artillery set in position, pointing out the extreme peril and the absolute need of immediate help.  The trusty man made such haste that he reached Ferrara about noon, having taken hardly six hours on the way.  It so chanced that he met Bayard at the city gate, and on the Good Knight asking what news he brought, he replied: 

“My lord, I come from La Bastida, which is besieged by seven or eight thousand men, and the commander sends me to tell the Duke that if he does not receive help he will not be able to hold the place until to-morrow night if they try to take it by assault ... for he has only twenty-five men of war within the walls....”

Bayard at once hastened with him to the Duke, whom he met riding in the market-place with the lord of Montboison.  They thought at first that a spy had been taken, but soon learnt that he was the bearer of bad news.  As the Duke read the letter which the commander had written he turned pale, and when he had finished he shrugged his shoulders and said:  “If I lose La Bastida I may as well abandon Ferrara, and I do not see how we can possibly send help within the time mentioned, for he implores assistance before to-morrow morning, and it is impossible.”

“Why?” asked the lord of Montboison.

“Because it is five-and-twenty miles from here, and in this bad weather it will be more than that,” replied the Duke.  “There is a narrow way for about half a mile where the men will have to go one after the other.  Besides, there is another thing, for if our enemies knew of a certain passage twenty men could hold it against ten thousand, but I trust they will not discover it.”

When the Good Knight saw how distressed the Duke was, he said: 

“My lord, when a small matter is at stake we may hesitate; but when we are threatened with utter destruction we must try any means.  The enemies are before La Bastida, and they are quite confident that we shall not dare to leave this city to raise the siege, knowing that the great army of the Pope is so near us.  I have thought of a plan which will be easy to carry out, if fortune is with us.

“You have in this town four or five thousand foot-soldiers, well hardened and good soldiers; let us take two thousand of them with eight hundred Swiss under Captain Jacob and send them this night in boats up the river.  You are still master of the Po as far as Argenta; they will go and wait for us at the passage you spoke of.  If they arrive there first they will take it, and the men-at-arms who are in this town will ride by the road all this night.  We shall have good guides and will so manage as to arrive by daybreak and thus join the others; our enemies will have no suspicion of this enterprise.  From the passage you spoke of it is three miles or less to La Bastida; before they have time to put themselves in order of battle we will attack them sharply, and my heart tells me that we shall defeat them.”