Page 147 - A Knight of the White Cross

At four o'clock another party of knights came down, and the work was
similar to that which had been performed in the morning. At seven o'clock

the slaves were taken back to their barracks.

"Well, what do you think of your work?" one of the slaves asked Gervaise,
as they ate their evening meal.

"It would not be so bad if it was all like that."

"No. But I can tell you that when you have to row from sunrise to sunset,
with perhaps but one or two pauses for a few minutes, it is a different thing
altogether, especially if the galley is carrying despatches, and speed is

necessary. Then you get so worn out and exhausted, that you can scarce
move an oar through the water, until you are wakened up by a smart as if a

red hot iron had been laid across your shoulders. It is terrible work then.
The whip cracks every minute across some one's back; you are blinded by
exhaustion and rage, and you feel that you would give the world if you

could but burst your chain, rush on your taskmasters, and strike, if only one
blow, before you are killed."

"It must be terrible," Gervaise said. "And do you never get loose, and fall
upon them?"

The man shook his head.

"The chains are too strong, and the watch too vigilant," he said. "Since I
came here I have heard tales of crews having freed themselves in the night,

and fallen upon the Christians, but for my part I do not believe in them. I
have thought, as I suppose every one of us has thought, how such a thing

could be done; but as far as I know no one has hit on a plan yet. Now and
then men have managed to become possessed of a file, and have, by long
and patient work, sawn through a chain, and have, when a galley has been

lying near our own shore, sprung overboard and escaped; but for every
attempt that succeeds there must be twenty failures, for the chains are

frequently examined, and woe be to the man who is found to have been
tampering with his. But as to a whole gang getting free at once, it is