Page 203 - A Knight of the White Cross

The first impulse of all of them was to take off their helmets in order to
breathe the fresh air, and for a while they all stood panting from their

exertions.

"Nobly and gallantly done, comrades!" Gervaise exclaimed. "This is indeed
a victory of which we have all a right to be proud. Now, the first thing is to
free the slaves of their shackles; there are many white faces among them.

Let our langue look after the wounded, while the released 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. The
greater portion of them were Christians -- Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, and

French, who had been captured in various raids by the corsairs; and among
them were the crew of the ship that had been overhauled by the galley on

the previous day. Besides these, there were a few Moslems who had been
sentenced to labour in the galleys for various crimes.

Among the Christians, the joy at their liberation was intense. Some
laughed, some cried, others were too overcome to speak coherently. Among

the rest were found, to the intense pleasure of their rescuers, three knights
of the Order who had for years been missing. They had been taken
prisoners on an island at which the galley to which they belonged had

touched. Many of the knights had landed, and three of them, all belonging
to the langue of Italy, had wandered away from the rest, and had not

returned. A search had been made for them, and it was discovered that a
struggle had taken place. As there were no marks of blood, it was supposed
that they were suddenly pounced upon by a party of hidden marauders, who

had been watching them from some hiding place, and had thrown
themselves upon the knights before they had had time to draw their swords.

Following the trail by bushes broken down, and plants crushed under foot,
it was found to lead to a creek on the other side of 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 had been missed, and therefore the craft in

which they had been carried off was long out of sight. Letters were written
by the grand master to the Pasha of Syria, to the Emperor of Egypt, and to