Page 40 - A Knight of the White Cross

they gazed with admiration at the castle with its stately buildings, the
palace of the grand master and the Hospital of St. John, rising above the

lower town, the massive walls strengthened by projecting bastions, and the
fortifications of the ports. Of these there were two, with separate entrances,

divided from each other by a narrow tongue of land. At its extremity stood
Fort St. Nicholas, which was connected by a strong wall running along the
promontory to the town. The inner port, as it was called, was of greater

importance, as it adjoined the town itself. It was defended in the first place
by Fort St. Nicholas, and at the inner entrance stood the towers of St. John

and St. Michael, one on either side. Into this the vessel was steered. There
were many craft lying there, among them eight or ten of the galleys of the
Order.

"We will go first to the house of our langue," Sir Guy said, "and tell them

to send down slaves to fetch up our baggage; then I will take you, Gervaise,
to Sir Peter D'Aubusson, and hand you over to his care."

On landing, Gervaise was surprised at the number of slaves who were
labouring at the public works, and who formed no small proportion of the

population in the streets. Their condition was pitiable. They were, of
course, enemies of Christianity, and numbers of them had been pirates; but
he could not help pitying their condition as they worked in the full heat of

the sun under the vigilant eyes of numbers of overseers, who carried heavy
whips, in addition to their arms. Their progress to the upper city was slow,

for on their way they met many knights, of whom several were acquainted
with Sir Guy; and each, after greeting him, demanded the latest news from
England, and in return gave him particulars of the state of things at Rhodes.

At last they arrived at the house of the English langue. The Order was

divided into langues or nationalities. Of these there were eight -- Provence,
Auvergne, France, Italy, Germany, England, Aragon, and Castile and
Portugal. The French element was by far the strongest. The Order had been

founded in that country, and as it possessed no less than three langues, and
held the greater part of the high official positions in the Order, it was only

kept in check by the other langues acting together to demand their fair share
of dignities. The grand master's authority was considerable, but it was