Page 93 - A Knight of the White Cross

infidels. Now that the chance has come, you have proved yourself a true
and valiant brother of the Order, and well worthy of the secular accolade. It

is in that capacity that I now knight you. It is not the grand prior of
Auvergne, but Sir Peter D'Aubusson, of the grand cross of St. Louis, who

now bestows upon you the honour of secular knighthood." He touched him
lightly with the sword. He then turned to Gervaise.

"You, Sir Gervaise Tresham, are young indeed to receive the honour of
secular knighthood; but valour is of no age, and in the opinion of your

commanders, and in that of your comrades, you have proved yourself
worthy of the honour. You have shown too, that, as Sir John Boswell has
related to me, you are not only brave in action, but able, in the moment of

danger, to plan and to execute. You were, he tells me, the means of saving
his life and that of your comrade, and, by thus enabling him to bear to the

place of rendezvous the news of Sir Louis's danger, were also the means of
saving the lives of Sir Louis and his companions, and of bringing home in
safety the prizes he had taken. With such a beginning it is easy to foresee

that you will win for yourself some day a distinguished position in the
ranks of the Order, and are most worthy of the honour I now bestow upon

you." And he touched him with his sword.

The two young knights rose to their feet, bowed deeply to D'Aubusson, and

then retired, with their sponsors. They were at once surrounded by the
knights, who shook them by the hand, and warmly congratulated them upon

the honour that had befallen them, receiving equally warm congratulations
on their arrival at the auberge of the langue.

The five prizes turned out, when their cargoes were landed, to be much
more valuable than the cursory examination made by the knights had

warranted them in expecting. They contained, indeed, an accumulation of
the most valuable contents of the prizes taken by the pirates for a long time
previously; and as these desperadoes preyed upon Turkish commerce as

well as Christian, the goods consisted largely of Eastern manufactures of all
kinds. Costly robes, delicate embroidery, superb carpets, shawls,

goldsmiths' work, and no small amount of jewels, were among the spoil
collected, and the bulk of the merchandise captured was, two days later,