A Knight of the White Cross: A Tale of the Siege of Rhodes by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XVII CAPTURED
Upon the following day the doge requested Gervaise to accompany him toa meeting of the council. Upon entering the grand hall he found not onlythe members of the council assembled in their robes of office, but alarge gathering of the nobles and principal citizens of Genoa, togetherwith the knights of the galley whom, under Ralph Harcourt's orders,Gervaise found, to his surprise, drawn up in order across the Hall.Here, in the name of the Republic, Battista Fragoso announced to himthat, by the unanimous decision of the council, he had been electeda noble of Genoa; an honour, he added, on only one or two previousoccasions in the history of the Republic bestowed upon any but ofprincely rank, but which he had nobly earned by the great service hehad rendered to the State. His name was then inscribed in the bookcontaining the names and titles of the nobles of Genoa. Next, BattistaFragoso presented him with a superb suit of Milanese armour, as his ownpersonal gift, and then with a casket of very valuable jewels, as thegift of the city of Genoa. Each presentation was accompanied by theplaudits of the assembly, and by the no less warm acclamations of theknights. Ralph was then called forward, and presented with a suit ofarmour but little inferior to that given to Gervaise, and each knightreceived a heavy gold chain of the finest workmanship of Genoa.
Two days later the preparations for departure were complete, and asufficient number of men were engaged to man the prizes. This charge,also, Genoa took upon itself, and put on board much stronger crews thanGervaise deemed necessary for the navigation of the ships. The weatherwas fine and the wind favourable, and a quick passage was made toRhodes. When the harbour was in sight, the ships were ordered to proceedin single file, the galley leading the way with a huge banner of theOrder floating from her stern, and smaller flags on staffs at each side.It was not until they passed by the two forts guarding the entrance thatthe flags fluttering at the mastheads of the prizes afforded to thoseon shore an intimation of the event that had taken place, and even thennone supposed that this fleet of prizes had been taken by the one galleythat headed them.
As the Santa Barbara slowly rowed up the harbour, the State barge ofthe grand master put off to meet it, and D'Aubusson, with a party ofknights, soon stepped on board.
"Welcome back, Sir Gervaise! although I little expected to see youreturn so soon. What is the meaning of this procession that follows you?By their rig and appearance they are Moors, but how they come to be thussailing in your wake is a mystery to us all."
"They are Moors, your Excellency; they form part of an expedition fittedout by the corsairs of Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, and other piraticalstrongholds, for the purpose of destroying the commerce and ravaging thecoasts of Western Italy. Fortunately, we fell in with a ship that hadbeen plundered by three of them on their way north, and learned from thedying captain, who was the only one of her crew left with life on board,the direction they were taking, and something of the nature of theexpedition. We pursued the three galleys, came up with them, had thegood fortune to capture them, and then had the delight of finding amongtheir rowers the noble knights, Fabricius Caretto, Giacomo Da Vinci, andPietro Forzi."
The grand master, and the knights with him, uttered an exclamation ofjoy, and, as the three knights named stepped forward, embraced them withthe liveliest pleasure.
"My dear Caretto," the grand master exclaimed, "it is almost aresurrection, for we have all long mourned you as dead; and your returnto us at the present time is indeed fortunate; for upon whose judgmentand aid could I better rely than those of my old comrade in arms?" Then,turning to Gervaise, he went on: "It was a daring and brilliant exploitindeed, Sir Gervaise, and in due time honour shall be paid to you andyour brave companions, to whom and to you I now tender the thanks of theOrder. But tell me the rest briefly, for I would fain hear from thesenoble knights and old friends the story of what has befallen them."
"My tale is a very brief one, your Highness. The Cavalier Caretto sailedat once in a swift craft from the south of Sardinia, to carry warningsto the cities on the coast of Italy of the danger that threatened them,and in order that some war galleys might be despatched by Genoa to meetthe corsair fleet. During his absence we discovered the little inlet inwhich the pirates lay hidden, waiting doubtless the arrival of the threeships we had captured, to commence operations. On the return of theknight with the news that it would be at least a fortnight before Genoacould fit out any galleys, and fearing that the pirates might at anymoment put to sea, we procured some small Sardinian craft, and fittedthem as fire ships; with the captives we had rescued, and some Sardfishermen, we manned the three prizes, distributing the knights betweenthem, and at night launched the fire ships against the corsairs, whoseships were crowded together. Eleven of them were burnt; six we capturedas they endeavoured to make their way out, and took possession of fourothers whose crews had run them ashore and deserted them. None escaped."
Exclamations of astonishment and almost of incredulity broke from theknights.
"And is it possible, Sir Gervaise, that these thirteen vessels thatfollow you are all prizes captured by your galley alone?"
"It is, as I have the honour to tell your Highness. But their capture,except in the case of the first three, was due almost solely to goodfortune and to the position in which we found them, almost incapable ofdefence."
"What think you, knights and comrades?" the grand master said to hiscompanions. "There were some of you who deemed it rash to entrust agalley to so young a commander and so youthful a crew. What say you now?Never in the annals of the Order has such a sight been witnessed as thatof thirteen prizes being brought in by a single galley, to say naughtof eleven others destroyed. Caretto, you and your comrades must have hadsome share in this marvellous victory."
"By no means," the Italian replied; "beyond having the honour of aidingto carry out the orders of Sir Gervaise Tresham, the commander of thegalley. The plan was wholly of his own devising, its execution solelydue to his arrangement of the details, and that without the slightestsuggestion on the part of myself or my comrades. I will presentlynarrate to you the whole story; it will come better from my lips thanfrom those of Sir Gervaise, whose disposition is to wholly underestimatethe merit of the action he has performed. But I must also beartestimony, not only to the bravery displayed by Sir Gervaise, Sir RalphHarcourt, his lieutenant, and every one of the knights his crew, butto the admirable discipline, order, and good fellowship on board thegalley, which would have done credit to the most experienced commanderand to the most veteran knights of the Order."
The grand master paused a moment, and then said in a loud voice, "SirGervaise Tresham, Sir Ralph Harcourt, and knights of the seven languesof the Order--As yet I can hardly appreciate the full extent of theservice that you have rendered. I thanked you but now for the capture ofthree corsairs; but what can I say when I learn that you have destroyedor taken a whole fleet? I invite you all to a banquet that I shall holdtonight, where the Cavalier Caretto will relate to us all the details ofthis marvellous exploit."
Within a few minutes after the return of the grand master and his partyashore, the flags of the Order were run up to the flagstaffs of everyfort and bastion: the bells of the churches chimed out a triumphantpeal, and a salute was fired from the guns of the three water forts,while along the wall facing the port, the townspeople waved numberlessgay flags as a welcome to the galley. Most of the knights went ashoreat once, but Gervaise, under the excuse that he wished to see thateverything was in order before landing, remained on board until it wastime to go to the banquet, being sure that by that time the knightswould have fully told the story at their respective auberges, and thatthere would be no more questions to answer. The banquet differed butlittle from that at Genoa, and Gervaise was heartily glad when it wasover.
The next day the grand master sent for him.
"If I judge rightly, Sir Gervaise, the thing that will best please youat present, is an order to put to sea again at once, to conclude theusual period of service of the galley."
"It is indeed," Gervaise
"Yes, if you count only by time," D'Aubusson said, with a smile."Reckoning by results, you have done a good five years' cruise. However,so small a request can certainly be granted. The places of the twoknights who were killed, and of four others whose wounds are reportedto me as being too severe for them to be fit for service for some time,shall be filled up at once from the langues to which each belonged. Youwill cruise among the Western islands, whence complaints have reached usof a corsair who has been plundering and burning. Sometimes he is heardof as far north as Negropont, at others he is off the south of theMorea; then, again, we hear of him among the Cyclades. We have beenunwilling to despatch another galley, for there is ample employment forevery one here. After the blow you have struck on the Moorish corsairs,they are likely to be quiet for a little. You had best, therefore, tryfor a time if you cannot come across this pirate. You must let me knowhow much you paid for the vessels you used as fire ships, and to theSards; this is an expense chargeable to the general service. I may tellyou that to me it is due that no recognition of your exploits, such asthat which Genoa bestowed upon you, will be made. At the council thismorning it was urged that some signal mark of honour should be granted;but I interposed, saying that you had already received exceptionalpromotion, and that it would not be for your good, or that of theOrder, for so young a knight to be raised to an official position ofa character usually held by seniors, and that I was perfectly sureyou would prefer remaining in command of your galley to any promotionwhatever that would retain you on the Island."
"Indeed I should, your Highness. I wish to gain experience and to doservice to the Order, and so far from pleasing me, promotion wouldtrouble and distress me, and, could it have been done, I would mostgladly have sent home the prizes, instead of going to Genoa, and wouldmyself have continued the cruise."
"So the Cavalier Caretto told me," the grand master replied. "Very well,then. In three days you shall set out again. The admiral tells me thatnever before has a galley returned with the slaves in such good healthand condition, and that unquestionably your plan of erecting an awningto shelter them from the midday heat and the night dews has had amost beneficial effect on their health; he has recommended its generaladoption."
Three days later the Santa Barbara again left port, and was soon uponher station. For some weeks she cruised backwards and forwards along thecoast and among the islands. They often heard of the pirate ship, butall their efforts to find her were unavailing.
One evening there were signs of a change of weather, and by morning itwas blowing a furious gale from the north; in spite of the efforts ofthe rowers, the galley narrowly escaped being driven ashore; but she atlast gained the shelter of an island, and anchored under its lee, theslaves being utterly worn out by continuous exertion. As soon as thegale abated they again put to sea, and, after proceeding for some miles,saw a ship cast up on shore. Some people could be made out on board ofher, and a white flag was raised.
"She must have been driven ashore during the gale," Gervaise said. "Wewill row in to within a quarter of a mile of her and see what we can dofor them."
As soon as the anchor was dropped a boat was lowered.
"I will go myself, Ralph, for I shall be glad to set my foot on shoreagain. There must be people on the island; I wonder none of them havecome to the aid of those poor fellows. I suppose the villages are on theother side of the island, and they have not yet heard of the wreck."
Gervaise asked three of the knights to accompany him, and the boat,rowed by galley slaves, was soon on its way. All were glad at the changeafforded to the monotony of their life on board, and at the prospect ofa scamper on shore.
There were but five or six men to be seen on the deck of the wreck, andthese had, as the boat approached, come down to the rocks as if to meetthose who came to their aid; but as the knights leapt out, they threwthemselves suddenly upon them with knives and scimitars that hadhitherto been concealed beneath their garments, while at the same momenta crowd of men appeared on the deck of the ship, and, leaping down, ranforward with drawn swords. Two of the knights fell dead before they hadtime to draw their weapons. The third shook off his two assailants,and for a minute kept them both at bay; but others, rushing up, cut himdown.
Gervaise had received a slight wound before he realised what washappening. He snatched his dagger from its sheath, and struck down oneassailant; but ere he could raise it to strike again, another leapt onto his back, and clung there until the rest rushed up, when he shouted,"Take him alive! take him alive!" and, throwing down their weapons, halfa dozen of the pirates flung themselves upon Gervaise, and stroveto pull him to the ground, until at last, in spite of his desperateresistance, they succeeded in doing so. His armour was hastily strippedoff, his hands and feet bound, and then at the orders of the pirate whohad leapt on his back, and who was evidently the captain, half a dozenmen lifted him on to their shoulders. As they did so four guns from thegalley flashed out, and the balls flew overhead. The pirates, who hadalready begun to quarrel over the armour and arms of the fallen knights,at once took to their heels, followed by the galley slaves from theboat.
"Make haste," the captain said to the men carrying Gervaise.
"They are lowering their boats; we must be under way before they comeup."
In a minute or two Gervaise was set down on his feet, the cords roundhis legs were cut, and he was made to hurry along with his captors. Ina short time an inlet was reached, and here Gervaise saw, to hismortification, the pirate craft for which the Santa Barbara had in vainbeen searching. As soon as the party were all on board, the ropes bywhich she was moored to two trees were thrown off; the great sailshoisted, and she sailed boldly out. Although the gale had entirelyabated, there was still a brisk wind blowing, and it was evident to thecaptain of the corsair that under such circumstances he could outsailthe galley that had long been searching for him; when, therefore,the Santa Barbara came in sight, just as he and his crew had finishedstripping the wreck of its contents, the idea had occurred to him toattempt to entice some of the knights to land.
As soon as the vessel was under way he abused his followers hotly fornot having obeyed his orders to capture the knights without bloodshed;but they pleaded that it was as much as they had been able to do tocapture Gervaise in that way, and that they could never have overcomethe four together, before the boats would have had time to come from theship.
Gervaise had been told to sit down with his back to a mast and in thisposition he could, when the vessel heeled over to the breeze, obtain aview of the sea. It was with a feeling of bitter mortification and ragethat he saw the galley lying but half a mile away, as the corsair issuedfrom the inlet. A moment later he heard a gun fired, and saw the signalhoisted to recall the boats.
"If the wind had been favourable," the captain said to his mate, "wewould have borne down upon her, and could have reached and captured herbefore the boats got back, for you may be sure that they have landedalmost all their men. However, we can't get there against the wind, andwe will now say goodbye to them."
Gervaise knew well that at the pace they were running through the waterthe galley would have no chance whatever of overtaking her, and that,ere the knights came on board again, she would be already two or threemiles away. A point of land soon concealed the galley from view, andwhen he caught sight of her, as she rounded the point, she was but aspeck in the distance.
They passed several islands in the course of the day, changing theirdirection to a right angle to that which they had at first pursued, assoon as they were hidden from the sight of the galley by an interveningisland. As night came on they anchored in a little bay on the coast ofthe Morea. The sails being furled, the sailors made a division of thebooty they had captur
He slept where he sat. All night four men remained on guard, althoughfrom what he heard they had no fear whatever of being overtaken. Inthe morning his arms were unbound, and they stripped off his tunic andshirt. They had evidently respect for his strength, for before loosinghis arms they tightly fastened his ankles together. The removal of hisshirt exposed Claudia's gift to view.
"Take that from him and give it to me," the captain said. As the two menapproached, Gervaise seized one in each hand, dashed them againsteach other, and hurled them on the deck. But the exertion upset hisequilibrium, and after making a vain effort to recover it, he fellheavily across them. The captain stooped over him, and, before he couldrecover himself, snatched the chain from his neck.
"You are a stout fellow," he said, laughing, "and will make a fineslave. What have you got here that you are ready to risk your lifefor?" He looked at the little chain and its pendant with an air ofdisappointment. "'Tis worth but little," he said, showing it to hismate. "I would not give five ducats for it in the market. It must be acharm, or a knight would never carry it about with him and prize it sohighly. It may be to things like this the Christians owe their luck."
"It has not brought him luck this time," the mate observed with a laugh.
"Even a charm cannot always bring good luck, but at any rate I will tryit;" and he put it round his neck just as Gervaise had worn it. Thelatter was now unbound, and permitted to move about the deck. Thestrength he had shown in the struggle on shore, and the manner in whichhe had hurled, bound as he was, two of their comrades to the deck, hadwon for him the respect of his captors, and he was therefore allowedprivileges not granted to the seamen of the vessel that had had the illfortune to be cast on shore so close to the spot where the corsairwas hiding. These had been seized, driven to the ship, and having beenstripped of the greater portion of their clothes, shut down in the hold.
Although angry that but one out of the four who landed had beencaptured, the captain was in a good humour at having tricked hisredoubtable foes, and was disposed to treat Gervaise with moreconsideration than was generally given to captives. The latter had notspoken a word of Turkish from the time he was captured, and had shakenhis head when first addressed in that language. No suspicion wastherefore entertained that he had any knowledge of it, and the Turksconversed freely before him.
"Where think you we had better sell him?" the mate asked the captain,when Gervaise was leaning against the bulwark watching the land, a shortquarter of a mile away. "He ought to fetch a good ransom."
"Ay, but who would get it? You know how it was with one that Ibrahimtook two years ago. First there were months of delay, then, when theransom was settled, the pasha took four-fifths of it for himself, andIbrahim got far less than he would have done had he sold him as a slave.The pashas here, and the sultans of the Moors, are all alike; if theyonce meddle in an affair they take all the profit, and think they dowell by giving you a tithe of it. There are plenty of wealthy Moors whoare ready to pay well for a Christian slave, especially when he is agood looking young fellow such as this. He will fetch as much as allthose eight sailors below. They are only worth their labour, whilethis youngster will command a fancy price. I know a dozen rich Moors inTripoli or Tunis who would be glad to have him; and we agreed that wewould run down to the African coast for awhile, for that galley has beenaltogether too busy of late for our comfort, and will be all the moreactive after this little affair; besides, people in these islands havegot so scared that one can't get within ten miles of any of them nowwithout seeing their signal smokes rising on the hills, and finding,when they land, the villages deserted and stripped of everything worthcarrying away."
This news was a disappointment to Gervaise. He had calculated that hewould be sold at one of the Levant ports, and had thought that with hisknowledge of Turkish he should have no great difficulty in escapingfrom any master into whose hands he might fall, and taking his chance ofeither seizing a fishing boat, or of making his way in a trading ship tosome district where the population was a mixed one, and where trade waswinked at between the merchants there, and those at some of the Greektowns. To escape from Tunis or Tripoli would be far more difficult;there, too, he would be beyond the reach of the good offices of SuleimanAli, who would, he was sure, have done all in his power to bring abouthis release. Of one thing he was determined: he would not return toRhodes without making every possible effort to recover Claudia's gage,as he considered it absolutely incumbent on him as a knight to guard, assomething sacred, a gift so bestowed. The fancy of the corsair toretain the jewel as a charm he regarded as a piece of the greatest goodfortune. Had it been thrown among the common spoil, he would never haveknown to which of the crew it had fallen at the division, still lesshave traced what became of it afterwards; whereas now, for some time, atany rate, it was likely to remain in the captain's possession.
Had it not been for that, he would have attempted to escape at the firstopportunity, and such an opportunity could not fail to present itselfere long, for he had but to manage to possess himself of Moslem garmentsto be able to move about unquestioned in any Turkish town. When itbecame dark he was shut up in the hold, which was, he found, crowdedwith captives, as, in addition to the crew of the wreck, between fortyand fifty Greeks, for the most part boys and young girls, had beencarried off from the villages plundered. It was pitch dark below,although the scuttle had been left open in order to allow a certainamount of air to reach the captives; Gervaise, therefore, felt his wayabout cautiously, and lay down as soon as he found a clear space. Savean occasional moan or curse, and the panting of those suffering from theheat and closeness of the crowded hold, all was still. The majorityof the captives had been some time in their floating prison, andtheir first poignant grief had settled down into a dull and despairingacceptance of their fate; the sailors, newly captured, had for hoursraved and cursed, but, worn out by their struggle with the elements, andtheir rage and grief, they had now fallen asleep.
It was long before Gervaise dozed off. He was furious with himself forhaving fallen into the trap; if he had, as he said to himself, lain offthe beach in the boat, and questioned the supposed shipwrecked sailors,their inability to reply to him would have at once put him on his guard;as it was, he had walked into the snare as carelessly and confidently asa child might have done. Even more than his own captivity, he regrettedthe death of his three comrades, which he attributed to his own wantof care. The next morning he was again allowed on deck. The vessel wasunder way, and her head was pointing south. To his surprise some of thecrew gave him a friendly greeting; he was unable to understand a mannerso at variance with their hatred to the Christians, until one of themsaid to him in a mixture of Greek and Italian, "We have heard fromour countrymen who were in the boat with you, that they received muchkindness at your hands, and that of all the Christians they had servedunder, you were the kindest master. Therefore, it is but right now Allahhas decreed that you in turn should be a slave to the true believers,that you should receive the same mercy you gave to Moslems when theywere in your power."
The captain came up as the man was speaking. He talked for a time to thesailor, who then turned again to Gervaise. "The captain says that he istold you were the commander of that galley; he has questioned the eightmen separately, and they all tell the same story: and yet he cannotunderstand how so young a man should command a galley manned by warriorsfamous for their deeds of arms, even among us who are their foes."
"This galley was an exception," Gervaise replied; "the knights onboard were all young, as they could be better spared than those moreexperienced, at a time when your sultan is known to be preparing for anattack on Rhodes."
The captain was silent for a minute when this was interpreted to him;
"I wish I had known it," he said after a pause; "for had I done so, Iwould have fought and captured her yesterday; I have half a mind to goback and seek her now."
He called up one of the ex slaves who was a native of Tripoli, and whohad now taken his place as a member of the crew, and asked him a numberof questions. Gervaise felt uncomfortable while the man was answering.Fortunately, his rowers had agreed to say nothing whatever of thedestruction of the corsair fleet, of which no word had as yet reachedthe pirates, deeming that, in their anger at the news, the pirates mightturn upon them for the part that they had, however involuntarily, bornein it.
As soon as he perceived that the captain entertained the idea ofreturning to engage the galley, the man felt that if he were to avoida return into captivity he must deter him from taking such a step. Hetherefore, in answer to his questions as to the strength of the crew ofthe galley and the fighting powers of the knights, reported the captureof the three vessels. The captain listened almost incredulously to hisstatement, and, calling up another two of the men, questioned them alsoas to the occurrence. Having heard them, he turned away and paced thedeck, in evident anger; however, he gave no instructions for a change ofcourse, and, to the great satisfaction of the eight rescued slaves, thevessel continued her course southward.
As they neared the African coast, Gervaise kept an eager lookout, inhopes that Visconti's galley might appear in sight. The captain's temperhad not recovered from the effect of the news of the capture of threeMoorish vessels by the galley commanded by Gervaise, and the latter,seeing the mood he was in, kept forward so as to avoid coming in contactwith him. He had early taken the opportunity of saying to one of thereleased galley slaves, "I pray you, if you have any feeling of kindnesstowards me for the efforts I made to alleviate your condition, sayno word of my knowledge of Turkish, and ask the others also to remainsilent on this point."
The man had nodded, and the request was observed by them all.
The captain's irritation showed itself in his treatment of the othercaptives. These were brought up every day from the hold, and kept ondeck until dark, as the price they would fetch in the slave market inTripoli would depend greatly upon their health and appearance; but whenthe captain came near them he several times struck them brutally, ifthey happened to be in his way. Gervaise had the greatest difficulty inrestraining his indignation, and, indeed, only did so because he feltthat his interference would but make things worse for them. When at lastthe ship cast anchor off Tripoli, the captain ordered the boats to belowered. As he walked towards the gangway, he happened to push againstone of the captives, a Greek girl of some ten years of age. With anangry exclamation he struck her to the deck. Gervaise sprang forward.
"You brute!" he exclaimed in English. "I have a good mind to throw youoverboard, and will do so the next time you strike one of these childrenwithout cause."
Infuriated by Gervaise's interference and threatening attitude, thecorsair drew his long knife; but before he could strike, Gervaise caughthis wrist; the knife fell from his hand, and Gervaise kicked it throughthe open gangway into the sea. The captain shouted to his men to seizethe Christian, but the young knight's blood was up now. The firstman who came at him he seized by the sash round his waist, and threwoverboard; the two next he stretched on the deck with blows from hisclenched fist. Some of the others now drew their weapons, but thecaptain shouted to them to sheath them.
"Fools!" he yelled. "Is it not enough that your cowardice has alreadycost us the lives of three knights, whose capture would have brought usa big sum? Throw him down and bind him. What! are fifty of you afraid ofone unarmed man? No wonder these Christians capture our ships, if thisis the mettle of our crews!"
Goaded by his words, the men made a general rush upon Gervaise, and, inspite of his desperate efforts, threw him on to the deck and bound him;then the captain, seizing a heavy stick in his left hand, his rightbeing still powerless, showered blows upon him until Gervaise almostlost consciousness. "Throw some water over the dog," the corsair said,as he threw down the stick, panting with his exertions; and then,without waiting to see if his order was obeyed, he took his place in theboat, and was rowed ashore.
As soon as he had left, three or four of the ex galley slaves carriedGervaise into the shade of the sail. The sailors, several of whombore signs of the late struggle, looked on sullenly, but offered noopposition when the men took off the ropes and raised him into a sittingposture against the mast. He had not entirely lost consciousness, andwas now fast recovering himself.
"Is there anything we can do for you?" one of the men asked in Italian.
"No I shall soon be all right again, although I am bruised all over, andshall be stiff for a day or two. You had best leave me now, or you willincur the enmity of these fellows."
Gervaise was indeed bruised from his neck to his heels. Even inhis passion the pirate had avoided striking him on the head, as adisfiguring mark on the face would diminish his value. Sitting there, hecongratulated himself that he had been beaten with a stick and notwith a whip; a stick is a weapon, and he did not feel the same sense ofdishonour that he would have experienced had he been beaten with awhip. That such might be his lot in slavery he recognised. The backs ofCaretto and his two companions were seamed with the marks inflictedby the gang master's whip, and he could scarce hope to escape the sametreatment; but at present he hardly felt a slave. There was anotherreflection that to some extent mitigated the pain of his bruises;the pirate captain held his treasured gage, and it was his fixeddetermination to recover it. The man had at first in a rough way treatedhim fairly, and had allowed him more liberty than the other captives,and he would have felt reluctant to take extreme measure against him torecover the gage. Now he was not only free from any sense of obligation,but had a heavy score to settle with him.
After a time he got up and walked stiffly and painfully up and downthe deck, knowing that this was the best plan to prevent the limbsfrom stiffening. The corsair did not return until night set in; he wasaccompanied by an Arab, whose dress and appearance showed that he wasa person of importance. The other slaves had all been sent below, butGervaise still remained on deck, as the mate had not cared to riskanother conflict by giving him orders in the absence of the captain. Asthe pirate stepped on deck he ordered some torches to be brought.
"This is the Christian I spoke of," he said to the Arab, pointing toGervaise, who was leaning carelessly against the bulwark.
"He is, as you see, capable of hard work of any kind; his strength isprodigious, for it took ten of my best men to bind him this morning."
"Why did you wish to bind him?" the Arab asked coldly; "you told me thatalthough so strong he was of a quiet disposition, and would make a goodhousehold slave."
"I struck a slave girl who stood in my way," the captain said, "and hecame at me so suddenly that I had to call upon the men to bind him. Hethrew one of them overboard, and with his naked hands knocked down twoothers; and, as I have told you, it took all the efforts of eight or tenmore before they could overcome him."
The Arab took a torch from one of the sailors, walked across toGervaise, who was naked from the waist upwards, his upper garmentshaving been torn into shreds in the struggle, and examined him closely.
"And then you beat him," he said, turning to the captain.
"Certainly I beat him. Do you think that a slave is to mutiny on boardmy ship, and escape unpunished?"
The Arab, without replying, again inspected Gervaise.
"You ask a large sum for him," he said.
"I should ask twice as much," the captain replied, "if it were not forthe regulation that one slave from each cargo brought in belongs to thesultan, and his officers would as a matter of course choose this fellow,for the others are merely such as are sold in the market every day. Thisman is one of the accursed Order of Rhodes, and would fetch a ransommany times greater than the sum I ask for
"And, moreover, Hassan," the Arab said grimly, "it has doubtless notescaped you that as the Sultan of Turkey is fitting out an expeditionto destroy the community of Rhodes, the chance of their ransoming theircomrade is a very slight one."
"Threatened men live long," the captain said. "The sultan has beentalking of attacking them for years, and something has always happenedto prevent his carrying out his intention. It may be the same again."
"I will take him," the Arab said shortly. "Here is a purse with the sumyou named; count it, and see that it is right." As he stood apart whilethe pirate counted out the money, the eight released slaves came up in abody, and one of them, bowing low before the merchant, said,
"My lord, we have long been slaves of the Christian knights at Rhodes,and have worked in their galleys. We were rescued the other day whenthis knight was taken prisoner. Our life has been a hard one. We haveborne toil, and hardship, and blows, the heat of the sun by day, and thedamp by night, but we would humbly represent to you that since we wereplaced in the galley commanded by this knight our lot has been madebearable by his humanity and kindness. He erected an awning to shade usfrom the sun's rays, and to shelter us from the night dews. He providedgood food for us. He saw that we were not worked beyond our strength,and he forbade us being struck, unless for good cause. Therefore, mylord, now that misfortune has fallen upon him, we venture to representto you the kindness with which he has treated us, in the hope that itmay please you to show him such mercy as he showed to us."
"You have done well," the Arab said, "and your words shall not beforgotten. When you land tomorrow, inquire for the house of IsaacBen Ibyn. You are doubtless penniless, and I may be able to obtainemployment for those of you who may stop at Tripoli, and to assist thosewho desire to take passage to their homes elsewhere. We are commanded tobe grateful to those who befriend us, and as you have shown yourselvesto be so, it is right that I, an humble servant of the Great One, shouldin His name reward you."
Motioning to Gervaise to follow him, the Arab stepped into his boat.Gervaise turned to the men, and said in Italian, "Thanks, my friends,you have well discharged any debt that you may think you owe me. Willyou tell that villain"--and he pointed to the captain threateningly--"Iwarn him that some day I will kill him like a dog!" Then, turning, hestepped into the bow of the boat, and the two men who rowed it at oncepushed off.