Page 264 - A Knight of the White Cross

There were but five or six men to be seen on the deck of the wreck, and
these had, as the boat approached, come down to the rocks as if to meet

those who came to their aid; but as the knights leapt out, they threw
themselves suddenly upon them with knives and scimitars that had hitherto

been concealed beneath their garments, while at the same moment a crowd
of men appeared on the deck of the ship, and, leaping down, ran forward
with drawn swords. Two of the knights fell dead before they had time 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 him down.

Gervaise had received a slight wound before he realised what was
happening. He snatched his dagger from its sheath, and struck down one

assailant; but ere he could raise it to strike again, another leapt on to his
back, and clung there until the rest rushed up, when he shouted, "Take him

alive! take him alive!" and, throwing down their weapons, half a dozen of
the pirates flung themselves upon Gervaise, and strove to pull him to the
ground, until at last, in spite of his desperate resistance, they succeeded in

doing so. His armour was hastily stripped off, his hands and feet bound,
and then at the orders of the pirate who had leapt on his back, and who was

evidently the captain, half a dozen men lifted him on to their shoulders. As
they did so four guns from the galley flashed out, and the balls flew
overhead. The pirates, who had already begun to quarrel over the armour

and arms of the fallen knights, at once took to their heels, followed by the
galley slaves from the boat.

"Make haste," the captain said to the men carrying Gervaise.

"They are lowering their boats; we must be under way before they come
up."

In a minute or two Gervaise was set down on his feet, the cords round his
legs were cut, and he was made to hurry along with his captors. In a short

time an inlet was reached, and here Gervaise saw, to his mortification, the
pirate craft for which the Santa Barbara had in vain been searching. As

soon as the party were all on board, the ropes by which she was moored to
two trees were thrown off; the great sails hoisted, and she sailed boldly out.