 The Viscount Medardo of Terralba and his squire Kurt ride across the plague-ravaged plain of Bohemia en route to join the Christian army in the Turkish wars of the seventeenth century.On the first day of fighting, a Turkish swordsman unhorses the inexperienced Viscount.Fearless, he scrambles over the battlefield with sword bared, and is split in two by a cannonball hitting him square in the chest.