possessed of a file,
and have, by long and patient work, sawn through a chain, and have,
when a galley has been lying near our own shore, sprung overboard
and escaped; but for every attempt that succeeds there must be twenty
failures, for the chains are frequently examined, and woe be to the man
who is found to have been tampering with his. But as to a whole gang
getting free at once, it is altogether impossible, unless the key of
the pad locks could be stolen from an overseer, or the man bribed into
aiding us."

"And that, I suppose, is impossible?" Gervaise said.

"Certainly, impossible for us who have no money to bribe them with, but
easy enough if any one outside, with ample means, were to set about it.
These overseers are, many of them, sons of Turkish mothers, and have
no sympathy, save that caused by interest, with one parent more than
another. Of course, they are brought up Christians, and taught to hold
Moslems in abhorrence, but I think many of them, if they had their free
choice, would cross to the mainland. Here they have no chance of ever
being aught but what they are--overseers of slaves, or small prison
officials. They are despised by these haughty knights, and hated by us,
while were they to reach the mainland and adopt their mothers' religion,
everything would be open to them. All followers of the Prophet have
an equal chance, and one may be a soldier today, a bey tomorrow, and
a pasha a year hence, if he be brave, or astute, or capable in any way
beyond his fellows. Men like these warders would be sure to make their
way.

"They cannot have gathered much during their service, therefore the
offer of a large sum of money would find plenty among them eager to earn
it. But, you see, they are but the inferiors. On our voyages on board
the galley, the knights inspect our fetters twice a day, and the keys
are kept in the commander's cabin. For an hour or two, when we are not
on a long passage, the padlocks are unfastened, in order that we may
jump over and bathe, and exercise our limbs; but at this time the
knights are always on guard, and as we are without arms we are
altogether powerless. It is the same thing here. The senior warders, who
all belong to the Order, although of an inferior grade, come round, as
you have seen, to examine our fetters, and themselves lock and bar the
doors. If one or two of these could be corrupted, escape would be easy
enough."

"But is it impossible to do this?" Gervaise as