midnight
Edward at once called the prisoners belonging to that part of the country before him , and promised to any one who would tell him where the ford lay his freedom and that of twenty of his companions . A peasant called Gobin Agase stepped forward and offered to show the ford , where at low tide twelve men could cross abreast . It was , he said , called La Blanche Tache . Edward left Oisemont at midnight and reached the ford at daylight . The river , however , was full and the army had to wait impatiently for low tide . When they arrived there no enemy was to be seen on the opposite bank , but before the water fell sufficiently for a passage to be attempted , Sir Godemar du Fay with twelve thousand men , sent by King Philip , who was aware of the existence of the ford , arrived on the opposite side . The enterprise was a difficult one indeed , for the water , even at low tide , is deep .