CHAPTER XIII THE FIRST PRIZES
After leaving the slaves, Gervaise joined his companions on the poop.They were engaged in an animated discussion as to whether it wasadvisable to grant indulgences to slaves. The majority approved of thesteps Gervaise had taken, but some asserted that these concessions wouldonly lead them to look for more, and would create discontent among thecrews of other galleys not so favoured.
"Well, comrades," said Gervaise, "I think that so far I am betterqualified than any of you to give an opinion; but it may be that it willfall to the lot of some of you to be a slave in Turkish hands. In thatcase, I can affirm with certainty, that you will keenly appreciate anyalleviation, however small, of your lot. You must remember that the onefeeling of the slave is dull despair. Death is the only relief he hasto look forward to. Do you think that a man so feeling can do his best,either at an oar or at any other kind of work? I am sure it would not beso in my case. But if you brighten his life a little, and show himthat he is not regarded as merely a brute beast, and that you take someinterest in him, he will work in a different spirit. Even viewed from amerely monetary point of view it must pay well to render him as contentas possible with his lot. You know how great is the mortality among theslaves--how they pine away and die from no material malady that can bedetected, but simply from hopelessness and weariness of life, aided,undoubtedly, in the case of the galley slaves, by sleeping in the dampnight air after an exposure all day to the full heat of the sun. Thisbrings an answer to your second objection. Undoubtedly it might causediscontent among the slaves of other galleys when they hear that othersare treated better than themselves. But I hope that if, on our return,we bring back all our slaves in good condition and health, the contrastbetween their appearance and that of the slaves in most other galleyswill be so marked that the admiral may consider it would be well toorder awnings to be fixed to all the vessels of the Order, and even togrant to all slaves, when away on voyages, the little indulgences Ihave given them here. The expense would be very trifling, and it wouldcertainly add a great deal to the average life of a slave, and wouldrender him capable of better work. There is another advantage. Ifthe Turks learn that their countrymen in our hands are treated with acertain amount of kindness and consideration, it might lead them to actsimilarly to those of our Order who may be unfortunate enough to fallinto their hands."
"There is a great deal in what you say, Sir Gervaise," one of theknights, who had before taken the opposite point of view, said. "Thereis no reason why our galley should not be a model one, and though, likeenough, the seniors will laugh at our making innovations, D'Aubussonis a reformer, and will certainly support anything that he sees to bebeneficial, from whatever quarter it comes."
Supper was now served, and the young knights were well pleased with theentertainment provided for them. It was the principal meal of the day.Their fast was broken by a glass of wine, a manchet of bread, and fruitsoon after rising. At eleven o'clock they sat down to a more substantialmeal; but in that climate the heat was at that hour considerable, and asthere were duties to be performed, there was no sitting long at table.At supper the day's work was over, their appetite was sharpened by thecool evening breeze, and the meal was hearty and prolonged. After it wasconcluded, several of the knights brought up from below viols and otherinstruments of music; for the ability to accompany the voice with suchan instrument was considered an essential part of the education of aknight.
For some hours the songs and romances, so popular at the time, were sungin the various languages represented on board; then the knights, one byone, went down to their sleeping places, until only the seven knights ofthe langue of Auvergne, who were to watch the first night, remained ondeck. Five of these wrapped themselves in their mantles and lay down onthe benches. One of the others descended to the waist, walked along theplank between the lines of sleeping slaves, and took up his place inthe bow, while the other paced up and down the poop, the fall ofhis footsteps being the only sound to break the silence that reignedthroughout the ship.
In the morning, as soon as the knights had all taken a plunge in thesea, the oars were got out, and the galley proceeded on her way. Passingthrough the islands and skirting the southern shore of Greece, shecontinued her course west. Malta was sighted, but they did not put inthere. Pantellaria was passed, and in a fortnight after leaving Rhodes,Cape Bon, at the entrance to the bay of Tunis, was sighted. Until Greecewas left behind them, the nights had generally been spent in smallports, where supplies of fresh meat, fish, and fruit, were obtainable.So far no incident had marked the voyage. The weather had continuedfine, and they had heard nothing, from ships they had fallen in with,of any Moslem pirates having been seen. A few hours, however, aftersighting the coast of Africa, a dark object was seen ahead.
"It is a ship of some sort," Ralph said; "but her masts have gone. Itmay be that she is a merchantman that has been captured and sacked bythe Moorish pirates."
Orders were given to the rowers to quicken their pace, and in littleover an hour they were alongside the hull. As soon as the vessels wereclose enough for those on the poop of the galley to look down on tothe deck of the other craft, it was seen that Ralph's suppositions werecorrect. Two bodies lay stretched upon it. One was crushed under thefallen mast; the other lay huddled up in a heap, a cannon ball havingalmost torn him asunder. The knights leapt on to the deck as soon as thegalley ran alongside. Gervaise made first for the man lying beneath themast; as he came up to him, the sailor opened his eyes and murmured,"Water!" Gervaise called out to one of the servants to bring water fromthe galley, and, as soon as it came, poured some between the man's lips,and the knights by their united efforts lifted the mast from across hisbody. It was evident, however, that he had but a short time to live,and the dew of death was on his face. After a few minutes he rallied alittle, and looked gratefully at his rescuers.
"You have been attacked by pirates," Gervaise said. "Was there onegalley, or two?"
"Three galleys," the man replied in a faint whisper.
"Do you know where they were from?"
"Tripoli."
"How long ago?"
"It was about three hours after sunrise when we saw them coming up," theman said, his voice gaining in strength, as some wine they gave him tookeffect. "It was useless to fight, and I hauled down our flag, but inspite of that one of the pirates fired a broadside, and one of theshot hit the mast and brought it down, and I was crushed under it. Theyboarded us, took off all the crew as captives, and emptied the hold; Iknew that I was done for, and begged them to kill me; but they paidno attention. I know a little of their language, and as I lay there Icaught something of what they were saying; they are bound for the Islandof Sardinia, where they have a rendezvous, and are to join a greatgathering of their consorts. I don't know the name of the place, but itis on the east coast. More water!"
Gervaise knelt to pour some water between his lips, when he gave asudden cry, a shudder ran through his frame, and he was dead.
"Let us return on board, gentlemen," Gervaise said, rising to his feet."We can do nothing here."
As soon as he regained the deck of the galley, he signed to Ralph tofollow him below.
"Now, Ralph," he said, "this is one of those cases in which we have todecide whether we ought or ought not to be prudent. From what that poorfellow said, the pirates have about five hours' start of us, and as theycan have no idea that they are pursued, we can doubtless overtake thembefore they reach Sardinia. The question is, ought we to pursue them atonce, or ought we to coast along until we find Visconti's galley? Threeof these Tripoli pirates, crowded as they always are with men, wouldprove serious opponents, yet we might engage them with a fair hope ofvictory. But we may be seriously disabled in the fight, and should be,perhaps, unable to carry the news to Genoa that there are many pirateships gathering on the coast of Sardinia to prey upon their commerce."
"We might be days, or even weeks, before we light upon Visconti'sgalley, Gervaise, and even when we found it, he might not conside
rhimself justified in leaving the coast where he is stationed. Besides,while we are spending our time looking for him, the pirates will becommitting terrible depredations. It must be a big expedition, undersome notorious pirate, or they would never venture so far north."
"Then you think that I should be justified in pursuing them alone. It isa fearful responsibility to have to decide."
"I think so, Gervaise. There is no saying what misfortunes might happenif we did not venture to do so."
"Very well then, so be it. But before deciding finally on so grave amatter, I will lay it before the company."
"There is no doubt as to what their decision will be," Ralph said, witha smile.
"Perhaps not, Ralph; but as they will be called upon to risk their livesin a dangerous enterprise, it is as well that they should have a say inthe matter."
When they returned on to the poop, there was an expression of eagernessand excitement on the faces of the young knights which showed howanxiously they had been awaiting the result of the conference below.Gervaise stepped on to a bench, and motioned to them to close up roundhim.
"Comrades," he said, "although the responsibility of whatever course maybe taken must rest upon my shoulders, yet I think it but right that,as a general before a battle often calls a council of war to assist himwith its advice, so I should lay before you the two courses open to us,and ask your opinion upon them. Sir Ralph Harcourt and I are of one mindin the matter, but as the decision is a grave one we should be loath toact upon it without your concurrence."
He then repeated the alternatives as he had laid them before Ralph."Now," he went on, "as you see, there is grave danger, and much riskin the one course; but if successful its advantages are obvious. Onthe other hand, the second plan is more sure, more prudent, and more inaccordance with the instructions I have received. I ask you to let meknow frankly your opinion on the subject. If your view agrees with ours,although it will not relieve me from the responsibility of deciding,it will at least, in the event of things turning out badly, be asatisfaction to know that the course had your approval, and that it wasyour desire, as well as ours, that we should undertake it. First, then,let all who are in favour of following the pirates go to the starboardside of the deck, while those who are in favour of joining Visconti, andlaying this serious matter we have discovered before him, move to thelarboard side."
There was a rush of the knights to the right, and not one moved to theother side.
"Your decision is the same as ours," Gervaise said. "To the north, then!If there is great peril in the adventure, there is also great honour tobe gained."
The knights gave a shout of satisfaction at finding that their choicewas also that of the officers.
"Lay her head to the north," Gervaise said to the pilot. Then he wentto the end of the poop, and ordered the slaves to row on. "Row a long,steady stroke, such as you can maintain for many hours. We have a longjourney before us, and there is need for haste. Now is the time forwilling work."
The oars dipped into the water, and the galley was soon moving alongat a much faster pace than that at which they had performed the journeyfrom Rhodes. The slaves had not, from their benches, been able to seewhat had passed on board the dismantled vessel, but from the order andthe change of course, they had no doubt that the knights had obtainedsome clue to the direction taken by the corsairs who had captured andsacked the ship.
"There is but little wind," Gervaise said to Ralph, "and their sailswill be of slight use to them; therefore we shall go fully three feet totheir two. It is quite possible that we may not catch sight of them,for we cannot tell exactly the course they will take. We shall steer forCape Carbonara, which is some hundred and thirty miles distant. If wedo not see them by the time we get there, we shall be sure that we havepassed them on the way, unless, indeed, a strong wind should spring upfrom the south. However, I hope that we shall catch sight of them beforethat, for we shall be able from our lookout to discover their masts andsails some eight or ten miles away, while they will not be able to seeus until we are within half that distance. They cannot be more thantwenty miles away now, for the light breeze will aid them but little,and as they will see no occasion for haste, they will not be rowing attheir full power, with so long a passage before them."
Already, indeed, one of the knights had perched himself on the seat atthe top of a low mast some fifteen feet above the poop, that served as alookout.
"You can see nothing yet, I suppose, Cairoli?"
"No; the line of sea is clear all round."
It was indeed some four hours before the knight on the lookout criedthat he could make out three dark specks on the horizon. Gervaise atonce ascended to the lookout, by the ladder that was fixed against thepost.
"They are making to the left of the course we are taking. Turn her headrather more to the west. That will do. They are directly ahead now." Hethen came down to the deck again. "I would that we had seven or eightmore hours of daylight, Ralph, instead of but three at the outside.However, as we know the course they are taking, we are not likely tomiss them, for as we shall not be near enough for them to make us outbefore the sun sets, there will be no chance of their changing it. Doyou think they will row all night?"
"I should not think so. If the land were nearer they might keep on untilthey make it, but as they have had no wind since daylight, they will lieon their oars until morning. You see, at sunset they will still be someeighty miles from Cape Carbonara, and the slaves could not possibly rowthat distance without rest; so that if we keep on we may take them bysurprise."
"That is what I have been thinking, Ralph, but it would be well not toattack them until nearly daybreak. We should capture one galley easilyenough; but the others, being ignorant of our force, might make off indifferent directions, and we might lose both of them. If, on the otherhand, we could fall upon them a short time before daylight, we should beable to keep them in sight, and, even if they separated, they would sooncome together and continue their course, or, as I hope, when they seethat we are alone, bear up and fight us. I think that our best plan willbe to row on until it is dark, then give the slaves six hours' rest, andafter that go on quietly. If we can make them out, which we may do ifthey have lights on board, we will stop, and wait until it is the hourto attack them. If we miss them, we will row on to Sardinia and lie up,as we proposed, until they come along."
"I think that will be a very good plan, Gervaise."
Before sunset the three pirate ships could be clearly made out from thedeck, but the pilot judged them to be fully ten miles away. Half an hourlater the slaves were told to cease rowing. Gervaise had ordered thecooks to prepare them a good meal, and this was at once served, togetherwith a full ration of wine. As soon as they had consumed it, they weretold to lie down and sleep, as at one o'clock the galley would be againunder way.
The knights' supper was served below, as lights on the poop might bemade out, should a lookout be placed by the corsairs in their tops.
"We had better follow the example of the galley slaves," Gervaise said,rising as soon as the meal was finished, "and, with the exception ofSpain, who is on watch, turn in to sleep till we are off again. All ofyou will, of course, don your armour on rising."
At the appointed hour the galley was again under way. There was not abreath of air, and before starting, pieces of cloth were wrapped roundthe oars at the rowlocks to deaden the sound, which might otherwise havebeen heard at a considerable distance on so still a night. After an hourand a half's rowing, the knight on the lookout said that he could see alight some distance ahead. The pilot, an experienced old sailor, joinedhim, and speedily descended to the poop again.
"It is a ship's light," he said. "I should say that it was a lantern onboard the ship of the captain of the expedition, and is shown to enablethe other two to keep near him. I cannot say how far it is away, forI do not know at what height it hangs above the water; but I shouldimagine, from the feebleness of the light, that it must be some twomiles distant."
As soon
as the light had been noticed, the slaves had been ordered tocease rowing, and they were now told that they would not be requiredagain for fully two hours. When the first gleam of dawn appeared inthe east they were called to their work again. The lantern was stillburning, and, in a quarter of an hour, the knights on the poop wereable, in the broadening light, to make out three shadowy forms sometwo miles ahead of them. They decreased this distance by more than halfbefore they could discern any signs of life or motion on board. Thena sudden stir was apparent; they could hear shouts from one vessel toanother, oars were thrust out, and an effort made to get the heads ofthe ships in the same direction, so as to catch the light breeze thathad just sprung up.
The moment he saw that the galley was discovered, Gervaise shouted downto the slaves to row their hardest, and told the pilot to steer for theship farthest to the east. She was some four or five hundred yards fromher nearest consort, and the same distance separated that vessel fromthe third craft.
"We shall have time to carry her, Ralph, before the others come to herassistance, and they will only arrive one at a time. If we were to liealongside the middle craft, which is probably that of the chief, as itis she that has the light burning, we might have the other two upon usbefore we had done with her, for she is evidently the largest, and mostlikely the strongest handed, of them."
The leader of the pirates evidently saw that there was no chance ofevading the fight. A flag was run up to the masthead of his ship, andthe three vessels began to endeavour to turn, so as to meet the galley.The operation, however, took some time. In the confusion, orders weremisunderstood, and instead of all the slaves on one side rowing whilstthose on the other side backed, all order was lost, and long before thecraft for which the galley was making had got round, the latter was uponher.
"Shall I ram her, Sir Gervaise?" the pilot asked.
"No; we might damage ourselves; besides, I do not want to sink her.Sheer away the oars on one side!"
The galley carried eight guns--three on each side of the poop, and twoforward; and these had been loaded with small pieces of iron. A fewshots had been fired by the pirates, but, owing to the confusion thatprevailed on board, the guns were discharged so hurriedly that the shoteither flew overhead or passed wide of the galley. Excited as the youngknights were, and eager for the fray, a general laugh broke out as thegalley swept along by the pirate ship, breaking many of her oars, andhurling all the slaves who manned them backwards off their benches. Amoment later the guns poured their iron contents among the pirates whoclustered thickly on the forecastle and poop, and as the vessels gratedtogether the knights sprang on board the corsair.
The members of the English langue had each been provided with shortpieces of rope, and before joining their companions in the fray theylashed the vessels together, side by side. The fight was a very shortone. France and Auvergne, led by Ralph Harcourt, boarded at the bow, theother five langues at the poop; and so impetuous was their onset thatthe pirates, who had still scarce recovered from their surprise at beinghastily aroused from sleep to repel the attack of the foe who had sosuddenly sprung out from the darkness upon them, offered but a feebleresistance. Many threw themselves overboard, and swam to the shipnearest to them; others were cut down; and the rest flung away theirarms, and cried for quarter.
All who did so were, without the loss of a minute's time, thrown downinto the hold of their ship, and the hatches secured over them. It hadbefore been arranged that Ralph should take the command of the corsair,having with him France, Auvergne, and Germany. As soon, therefore, asthe captives were fastened below, Gervaise called the knights of theother four langues back to the deck of the galley. The lashings werecast off, she was pushed from the side of the prize, and the oars weregot out. There was no time to be lost, for the largest of the threepirate ships, which had, directly it was seen that her consortwas captured, poured two heavy broadsides into the prize, was nowapproaching--rowing but slowly, however, for the third vessel to comeup.
She was but a hundred yards away when the galley swept round the bow ofthe prize and advanced to meet her. As she did so, Ralph discharged theeight guns of the prize, which he had at once reloaded, into the bow ofthe corsair, the shot raking the crowded deck from end to end. When buta few yards distant, the two bow guns of the galley poured in a showerof missiles, and a moment later she ran alongside the pirate, the poopguns, as before, preparing the way for the boarders. But no sooner hadthey leapt on deck than they were met by the pirates, headed by theircaptain.
Gervaise had specially charged the knights not to allow themselves tobe carried away by their ardour. "We are sure to be greatly outnumbered,and, when we first spring on board, we must cut our way across the deck,and then form ourselves in a double or treble line across it, and, sofighting, gradually force them before us."
This, in spite of the efforts of the pirates, was accomplished, and,once formed, the corsairs strove in vain to break through the wallof steel. For a time, however, no forward movement could be made, sofurious were the attacks upon them, led by the pirate chief. Severaltimes breaches were made in the front rank, but the knights behind eachtime bore back the assault, and restored the line. The knights had wontheir way half along the poop when a yell of exultation rose from thecorsairs as the third of their vessels rowed up on the other side of thegalley, and her crew sprang on board it. Gervaise called the knights ofthe second line from their places, and ranged them along the bulwark, toprevent the Moors from boarding from the poop of the galley.
Then for a moment he looked round. The prize was creeping up, and was alength or two away, coming up alongside. Its approach was also noticedby the pirates, who, with wild shouts, flung themselves upon theiropponents. Gervaise sprang forward to take the place of a young Italianknight, who staggered back, with his helmet cleft by a heavy blow fromthe keen yataghan of the pirate captain. The corsair, shouting his warcry of "Allah!" sprang with the bound of a wild cat upon Gervaise; hisweapon descended on his uplifted guard, and shore right through thestout blade. With a shout of triumph, the corsair raised his arm torepeat the blow; but Gervaise in turn sprang forward, and struck withall his force with the pommel of his sword on the forehead of hisopponent. The latter fell as if shot, his weapon dropping from his handbeside him.
Dismayed at the fall of their leader, his followers recoiled for amoment. Another tall pirate sprang forward to take his place, and,shouting to them to follow, was about to throw himself upon Gervaise,when a gun crashed out close alongside. A storm of iron swept away thefront line of Moors, and the shout of "St. John!" "St. John!" rose abovethe din. It was one of the bow guns of the prize, and as she swept alonggun after gun poured its contents among the pirates.
"Do you clear the galley, Ralph. We can manage here now," Gervaise said,as Ralph leapt on board. The latter, followed by his party of knights,rushed across the poop, and sprang on to the galley among the pirates,who had been striving in vain to break through the line of defenders.Gervaise called to his party to follow him, and, taking the offensive,fell upon the remnant of the corsairs who still held the forward end ofthe poop.
The discharge of the cannon at such close quarters had wrought terriblehavoc among them, and the pirates, with but slight resistance, turned,and either ran down the ladder or leapt into the water. The knightsfollowed them forward among the benches of the rowers, who cheeredloudly in many tongues as they passed them. At the forecastle the Moorsmade another stand, but the knights forced their way up, and in twominutes all was over.
"Now to the aid of our comrades!" Gervaise shouted, as the last of thecorsairs was struck down.
Ralph's party had indeed cleared the poop of the galley, but they invain endeavoured to climb up on to that of the third pirate ship, whosesuperior height gave a great advantage to its defenders. Gervaise leaptdown on to the bow of the galley, followed by the knights, and then ranaft until he could climb into the waist of the pirate. So intent werethe corsairs upon defending the poop that they did not see what wasgoing on elsewhere, and G
ervaise had obtained a fair footing before hewas noticed. Then a number of men ran down and attacked his party. Butit was too late, for the whole of the knights had, by this time, leapedon board. Their assailants were forced back, and, pressing close uponthem, the knights gained the poop before the main body of the pirateswere aware of their coming.
Warned by the shouts and shrieks of their comrades that they had beentaken in the rear, the Moslems who were defending the side of the poopwavered for a moment. Ralph took advantage of their hesitation, andsprang on board, his companions pouring in after him. There was astern and desperate fight. The Moslems fought with the fury of despair,disdaining to ask or accept quarter. A few leapt overboard, preferringdeath by drowning to that by the swords of the Christians; but the greatmajority died fighting to the last. A shout of triumph rose from theknights as the last of the Moslems fell.
The first impulse of all of them was to take off their helmets in orderto breathe the fresh air, and for a while they all stood panting fromtheir exertions.
"Nobly and gallantly done, comrades!" Gervaise exclaimed. "This isindeed a victory of which we have all a right to be proud. Now, thefirst thing is to free the slaves of their shackles; there are manywhite faces among them. Let our langue look after the wounded, while thereleased captives clear the decks of the bodies of the fallen pirates."
It took an hour's hard work to knock off the chains of the slaves. Thegreater portion of them were Christians--Greeks, Italians, Spaniards,and French, who had been captured in various raids by the corsairs; andamong them were the crew of the ship that had been overhauled by thegalley on the previous day. Besides these, there were a few Moslems whohad been sentenced to labour in the galleys for various crimes.
Among the Christians, the joy at their liberation was intense. Somelaughed, some cried, others were too overcome to speak coherently. Amongthe rest were found, to the intense pleasure of their rescuers, threeknights of the Order who had for years been missing. They had been takenprisoners on an island at which the galley to which they belongedhad touched. Many of the knights had landed, and three of them, allbelonging to the langue of Italy, had wandered away from the rest, andhad not returned. A search had been made for them, and it was discoveredthat a struggle had taken place. As there were no marks of blood, itwas supposed that they were suddenly pounced upon by a party of hiddenmarauders, who had been watching them from some hiding place, and hadthrown themselves upon the knights before they had had time to drawtheir swords. Following the trail by bushes broken down, and plantscrushed under foot, it was found to lead to a creek on the other sideof the island. Here there were signs that a craft had been anchored,as there were the ashes of fires, fragments of food, and other matters,scattered about on the shore. Hours had passed before the knights hadbeen missed, and therefore the craft in which they had been carried offwas long out of sight. Letters were written by the grand master tothe Pasha of Syria, to the Emperor of Egypt, and to the Bey of Tunis,offering to ransom the knights, but all replied that they were unawareof any such captives having been landed.
An attempt had then been made to ascertain whether they had been carriedto Tripoli; but the bey had little authority over the various tribesmenalong the coast, and only replied that no such captives had been sold inthe city. Thus all hope of ransoming them had died away, and their nameswere inscribed in the list of those who had fallen into the hands of theinfidels, but of whose subsequent fate no clue could be obtained.
All were greatly emaciated, and their faces showed signs of thesufferings they had undergone. The young knights were all familiarwith their names, but personally none had known them, for they had beencarried off two or three months before Gervaise and Ralph Harcourt hadarrived at Rhodes.
All three had struggled desperately to break their chains while thefight was going on, and had, as soon as the contest was decided, risento their feet and shouted the battle cry of the Order; then, overcome bytheir emotions, they sank down upon their benches, and remained as ifin a stupor until the knights, who had hurried first to them, struckoff their fetters. Then the three men grasped each other's hands, whiletears streamed down their cheeks.
"It is no dream, comrades," one of them said, in a hoarse voice. "We arefree again. Let us first return thanks to God for our release, and thenwe can thank these our brothers."
The three knights knelt at the benches where they had toiled andsuffered, and hid their faces in their hands. No sounds came from theirlips, but their stifled sobs and the heaving of their naked shoulders,seamed and scarred by the strokes of their taskmasters' whips, toldthe young knights, who stood unhelmeted and silent around, how deep wastheir emotion. Then they rose.
"I am Fabricius Caretto," one said; "this is Giacomo Da Vinci; thisPietro Forzi: all knight commanders of the Order, and now for six yearsprisoners in the hands of these corsairs. Assuredly no one would knowus, so changed are we." He looked round inquiringly for a familiar face."Your commander must surely be a comrade of ours?"
"We know all your names," Gervaise said, coming forward, "though noneof us reached the convent until after your capture. I have the honourto command this galley. My name is Gervaise Tresham, and I have for mylieutenant Sir Ralph Harcourt. All of us, glad as we are at the capturewe have effected of these three corsairs, are still more pleased that weshould have been the means of rescuing three noble knights of our Orderfrom captivity. Now, I pray you first of all to accompany me onboard the galley, where we will do all we can to make you forget thesufferings you have gone through. After you have bathed, and recladyourselves, I will present to you the knights my comrades, amongst whomare seven of your own langue. Three of these I will tell off to see toyour comfort, for, as you will understand, I have my hands full indeedat present."
"First, before all things, Sir Knight, let me express to you all ourdeep gratitude and our admiration of the gallant deed that you haveaccomplished in thus, single handed, capturing three vessels belongingto the fiercest and most dreaded of the corsairs of Tripoli. God blessyou all, sirs"--and his voice broke again--"for the deed you have done,and for bringing us out of this living hell!"
Gervaise called to three of the Italian knights, and, followed by themand the released captives, led the way to the galley. Here he left themin charge of their countrymen. "Give them each a draught of old Cyprus,and something to eat," he said aside to one of the knights; "they sorelyneed refreshment before aught else, for, as you see, they are well nighdazed with this unlooked for change. I will put out clothes enoughfor one of them; the others you must supply for the present from yourstores. Now I must be off."
There was indeed much to be done. Four of the knights were told off toattend upon the most urgent cases among their own wounded. Only two oftheir number had been killed outright, but there were four serious casesamong the wounded, while eight or ten others had received wounds thatrequired bandaging and attending to. As fast as the slaves' fetterswere struck off, food and wine were given to them, together with suchgarments as could be found at the moment. Then the bodies of the fallenpirates were thrown overboard, while the wounded were attended to, andthe released Christians were divided equally between the three prizes.To each of these the knights of one of the langues were told off, theseniors being appointed to the command. There were in all some ninetyChristian captives on board the three ships. Thus each vessel had acomplement of seven knights and thirty Christians, and to these wereadded ten of the thirty Moslems found at the oars, and fifteen of thepirates to whom quarter had been given.
It was past noon before all these arrangements had been made, and duringthe time so occupied, the ships lay idly side by side, drifting slowlybefore the wind, the sails having been lowered as soon as the strugglewas over. Up to this time, the knights had been too busily engaged tothink of food, but they were right glad when they were summoned to ameal on board the galley.
Gervaise found the three knights in the cabin, dressed in the usualattire of the Order. They presented a very different appearance, indeed,to th
at which they wore when he had first seen them. They had bathed,and combed their matted hair, which was alone sufficient to transformthem, but the feeling that they were once more free men, and knights ofan honoured Order, had done even more to effect the change; and althoughthey looked thin and worn, the martial bearing had come back naturallyas they donned their knightly robes and buckled on swords.
"I am glad to see that you are better," Gervaise said, as he went up togreet them. "Twenty years seem to have dropped off your shoulders sincethis morning."
"We are not the same men, Sir Gervaise. We were slaves, and are nowfree. We were Christian dogs; now we are Christian knights. We weresubject to scoffs and blows; now, thank God, we have swords to strikewith, and though as yet our arms may not have regained their fullstrength, we could at least bear a share in a fray. Our comrades havebeen telling us somewhat of how this wonderful thing has come about,and have been explaining what at first filled us with surprise, that agalley should be manned solely by young knights, of whom their commanderis one of the youngest. We can testify, at least, that had the grandmaster been himself in command, and his crew composed of veteranknights, he could have done no better."
"We were fortunate in taking them so much by surprise that the first oftheir ships fell into our hands before her consorts could come to herassistance; and her guns did us good service in our struggle with theothers."
"The matter was well arranged, as well as gallantly fought," one of theother knights said. "Had you first fallen foul of the chief's galley,it would have gone hard with you, for his crew were so strong that youcould scarce have overcome them before the other two vessels came up tohis assistance."
"Now let us to our meal," Gervaise said.
The three knights were placed at the head of the table by him, and itwas pleasant to see how they enjoyed their food.
"I can scarce persuade myself that I am not dreaming," Caretto said."Sometimes, when lying at night, wet through with the damp air, I havewondered to myself whether I could ever have lived thus, and whetherI should ever exchange my hard bread and water for what seemed to mefabulous luxuries, though at the time one had taken them as a matter ofcourse. You cannot tell how strange it feels to me to come back to theold life again."
"You will soon be accustomed to it," Gervaise said, with a smile, "andthen you will look upon your captivity as a dream, just as you thenregarded your past life."
"I suppose, Sir Gervaise," Pietro Forzi said, "that you will sail directfor Rhodes with your prizes?"
"No indeed," Gervaise replied. "At the same time that we learned, from adying man left on board the ship the pirates captured yesterday, ofthe course they had taken, and were so enabled to follow them, we alsolearned that they were on their way to join a corsair fleet that wascollecting at some point on the eastern side of Sardinia, with theintention of sweeping the coast of Italy. It was this, rather than thecapture of these three vessels, that induced us to disobey the generalinstructions we had been given to cruise along the northern coast ofAfrica, and determined us to push north to give warning along the coastfrom Naples to Genoa of the danger that threatened, and, if possible, toenable Genoa to fit out her galleys to encounter the corsairs. That dutyhas still to be fulfilled, though I fear that Genoa will be able todo little, for of late she has been engaged in a long civil strugglebetween her great families, and has taken but a small part in maritimeaffairs. However, we can at least warn her, as well as Naples, Pisa,and other towns, and may possibly find some opportunity for ourselvesstriking another blow against the pirates."
"If so, certainly we shall be glad to accompany you, if you will allowus to serve under you; for nothing would please us so much as theopportunity of paying off a small share of the vengeance we owe them.But of course, if you would rather, we will sail for Rhodes in theprizes."
"I am not thinking of sending them to Rhodes at present," Gervaise said."It seems to me that we may be able, in some way, to utilise them toadvantage. They have their sails, and rowers for the oars. There willbe, in each, besides seven knights of the Order, thirty men who, likeyourselves, must feel willing to strike a blow at their late oppressors.I need hardly say that I shall be glad indeed to have the company andaid of three such well known knights of the Order, and would, could Ido so, gladly resign my command into your experienced hands. But thisI cannot do, and, anticipating that you would be willing to join us inthis expedition, I have been thinking how I could best utilise your aid.I have thought that, if you would accept the positions, I would appointone of you to each of the prizes, to act, not as its commander, but asthe leader of the band of released captives. Most of them are sailors,of course, and with them you could work the guns and give effective aidto the little party of knights in any actual fight."
The three knights all exclaimed that they would gladly accept the postshe offered them.
"The idea is a capital one, Sir Gervaise; and, as long as it doesnot come to close fighting, the three ships should be able to renderefficient aid to your galley in any encounter. They will be, at anyrate, a match for their own number of pirate ships," Caretto said.
As soon as the meal concluded, the Moslem captives were questioned oneby one as to the rendezvous at which the pirate fleet was to assemble;all, however, protested that the place was known only to the threecommanders, all of whom had fallen in the fight.