Page 58 - A Knight of the White Cross

"Forty. Aragon, like us, furnishes five, Germany ten, Portugal five,
Auvergne ten, and Provence five. We shall be commanded by Sir Louis

Ricord, a knight of Auvergne, and we could wish no better, for he has
proved himself a good seaman and a brave captain. Two other galleys are to

start with us. We are to cruise separately unless one gets news of a force so
superior that he will need aid to attack it, when he will meet the others at a
rendezvous agreed upon, and we shall work together."

"Who are the other three Englishmen?"

"John Boswell, Marmaduke Lumley, and Adam Tedbond -- all, as you
know, brave knights and good companions."

That evening Gervaise received a message from D'Aubusson, requesting

him to call at his auberge.

"So you are going to sea, Sir Gervaise? I hear from your bailiff that you

have been working to his satisfaction in the town."

"Yes, sir. I shall indeed be glad to change it for a life at sea. In truth, it is
grievous to me to witness the sufferings of the slaves, and I would rather do
any other work."

"They are far better off than the Christians who fall into the hands of the

Turks," the bailiff said; "and, moreover, it is because their countrymen are
preparing to attack us that we are forced to use their labour in strengthening
our fortifications. They have naught to complain of in the way of food.

Still, I would myself gladly see their lot alleviated; but we could not afford
to keep so great a number of captives in idleness; they must work for their

living. Had it not been for their labour we could never have built and
fortified the city. After all, they are little worse off than our serfs at home;
they build our castles and till our land."

"It may be so, sir; but with us in England men are free, and it was, when I

first came, strange to me to see them working under the fear of the whip. It
is necessary, I know, that such work should be done, but I own that I shall