the bulk of the slaves were
condemned, yet galled his spirit infinitely.

Now that he had entered upon the work with the approbation of his
superior, and a conviction of its great utility, Gervaise set to work
with the same zeal and ardour which he had exhibited in his military
exercises. During the heat of the day he sat in the shade reading and
writing with his instructor. In the cool of the morning and afternoon
he walked with him on the walls, or in the country beyond them. After
sunset he sat with him in an unfrequented corner of the roof, all the
time conversing with him, either of his own country, or that of his
instructor.

At first this was difficult, and he had to eke out the Turkish words
he had acquired with English; but it was not long before there was no
necessity for this. His intercourse for ten or twelve hours a day with
this Turk, and the pains taken by his instructor, caused him to acquire
the language with extreme rapidity. Of course, he had to put up with
a great deal of banter from the younger knights upon his passion for
study. Sometimes they pretended that his mania, as they considered it,
arose from the fact that he was determined to become a renegade, and was
fitting himself for a high position in the Turkish army. At other times
they insisted that his intention was to become a Turkish dervish, or to
win a great Turkish heiress and settle in Syria. But as he always bore
their banter good temperedly, and was ready occasionally to join them in
the sport when assaults-at-arms were carried on, they soon became tired
of making fun of him.

After nine months' constant work, the young knight's studies were
abruptly stopped by the receipt of a letter from the Pasha of Syria,
offering a considerable sum for the ransom of his instructor. The
request was at once acceded to, as it was the policy of the knights to
accept ransoms for their prisoners, both because the sums so gained
were useful, and because they were themselves compelled sometimes to pay
ransom for members of the Order. Suleiman Ali was, it was arranged, to
be put on board an Egyptian craft bound for Acre, a safe conduct having
been sent for the vessel and her crew, and for a knight, who was to
receive the ransom from the pasha.

"At any rate, Sir Gervaise," the Turk said, when the young knight
expressed great regret at his leaving them, "our position as instructor
and pupil would have come to an end shortly. For the last three months
t