Page 303 - A Knight of the White Cross

of his assailants in front; but as he did so, he himself received a severe
wound on the left shoulder from Hassan, who, before he could again raise

his weapon, sprang upon him, and tried to hurl him to the ground.

Gervaise's superior weight saved him from falling, though he staggered
back some paces; then his heel caught against a stone, and he fell, dragging
Hassan to the ground with him. Tightly clasped in each other's arms, they

rolled over and over. Gervaise succeeded at last in getting the upper hand,
but as he did so Hassan twisted his right arm free, snatched the dagger from

Gervaise's girdle, and struck furiously at him. Gervaise, who had half risen
to his knees, was unable to avoid the blow, but threw himself forward, his
weight partly pinning the corsair s shoulders to the ground, and the blow

passed behind him, inflicting but a slight wound in the back; then, with his
right hand, which was now free, he grasped Hassan by the throat with a

grip of iron. The pirate struggled convulsively for a moment, then his left
hand released his grasp of his opponent's wrist. A minute later Gervaise
rose to his feet: the pirate was dead.

Gervaise stooped and raised the fallen man's head from the ground, felt for

the chain, pulled up Claudia's gage, and placed it round his own neck; then
he turned to his guide.

"I have to thank you for my life," he said, holding out his hand to him. "It
would have gone hard with me if that fellow had attacked me from behind.

I had not bargained for three of them."

"I could not help it, my lord. It was not until Hassan had stepped down into

the boat that I knew he was going to take any one with him; then he
suddenly told two of his men to take their places by him, saying to me, as

he did so, 'I know not whether this message is a snare; but mind, if I see any
signs of treachery, your life at any rate will pay the forfeit.' I knew not what
to do, and indeed could do nothing; but, knowing my lord's valour, I

thought that, even against these odds, you might conquer with such poor
aid as I could give you."