xplain to the satisfaction of the council how this man became a
resident at his house."

"I am sorry I met him there, Ralph. It is a very unpleasant thing to
have gone to a house, to have been received kindly, and then to be the
means of bringing trouble upon it."

"Yes. I feel that a little myself, because I took you there; and yet I
cannot regret it, for if you had not seen him and taken an objection to
him, you might not have noticed him particularly when he spoke to one of
the galley slaves. It is certainly curious that you should have doubted
the man, for I have met him there several times, and even after your
visit with me I could see nothing in him to justify your dislike."

Gervaise went up to the palace, and while waiting in the great hall
until summoned before the council he was warmly accosted by several
knights,--some of whom were quite strangers to him,--who all joined in
congratulating him on the immense service he had done to the Order. It
was upwards of an hour before he was called in.

"The council have received, Sir Gervaise Tresham," the grand master
said, "full details from Sir John Kendall of the manner in which you
first discovered, and have since followed up the daring plot by which
the slaves at St. Pelagius were to have risen, slain the guards who were
faithful, spiked the cannon in the three water forts, burnt the merchant
shipping, carried off six galleys and burnt the rest, and in their
name I thank you for having saved the Order from a great calamity. The
members of the council agree with me that you have shown an amount of
discernment of the highest kind, and that you are worthy of exceptional
favour and reward for your conduct. I therefore in my own name appoint
you to the commandery of our manor of Maltby in Lincolnshire, which,
having fallen vacant, is in my gift; and I release it from the usual
payment of the first year's revenue. Knowing that you desire to
establish yourself here, the council have, at my request, decided to
make an exception to the general rule that a knight, on promotion to a
commandery, must return and take charge of it in two years from the time
the grant is made to him. The commandery will therefore be administered
by the senior of the knights attached to it.

"The council, on their part, have requested the bailiff of Auvergne, as
grand master of the Fleet, to appoint you to the command of the galley
now building, and approaching completion. This he has consent