Page 316 - A Knight of the White Cross

troops; so I contented myself with holding on until you were out of reach of
their arrows, and then I climbed up."

"I am delighted to see you again, Gervaise. I was feeling very sore at the

moment, and I know the others felt the same, at being obliged to sheer off
without making a capture; but the grand master's orders were strict. We
noted your craft pursued by the Turks, and I asked leave to take out a galley

to cut her off. He said, 'Take one, Sir John, but do not adventure an attack
against the Turk unless she is likely to fall an easy prize to you. Her capture

would be of little benefit to us, and would be dearly purchased at the cost of
a knight's life. Therefore, as soon as we engaged her, and I found that she
was full of troops and could not be captured without heavy loss, and that

two of her consorts might arrive before we accomplished it, it was plainly
my duty to abandon the attempt, although, you may guess, it went sorely

against the grain to give the order, especially as I knew that a host would be
looking on from St. Stephen's Hill. However, your rescue more than makes
up for our failure; and thankful indeed am I that I made the suggestion that

we should put out to save that little craft, though I thought it contained but
a few fishermen or some coasting sailors, who had, in ignorance that the

Turks were at hand, tried to enter Rhodes. One of those looking on with me
did, indeed, suggest that she might have on board a knight or two coming to
join us, but I did not give the matter a second thought."

"And how go things, Sir John? And how are old friends?"

"Ralph Harcourt and, I think, all your comrades in the Santa Barbara,
except the three who fell by your side when you were captured, are well,

and at present on the Island, as, for the last two years, none have been
allowed to depart. As to other matters, they go not so well as one could

wish. The commanderies have not responded to our call for aid as they
should have done. For this, however, they are not altogether to blame, for
we have been so often threatened with attack, and have so frequently

applied for aid in money or men, that they must have begun to doubt
whether the danger was really imminent. In other respects we are well

prepared. We have obtained large stores of provisions from Egypt, and
shall have no ground for uneasiness on that score. The defences have been