itting long at table.
At supper the day's work was over, their appetite was sharpened by the
cool evening breeze, and the meal was hearty and prolonged. After it was
concluded, several of the knights brought up from below viols and other
instruments of music; for the ability to accompany the voice with such
an instrument was considered an essential part of the education of a
knight.

For some hours the songs and romances, so popular at the time, were sung
in the various languages represented on board; then the knights, one by
one, went down to their sleeping places, until only the seven knights of
the langue of Auvergne, who were to watch the first night, remained on
deck. Five of these wrapped themselves in their mantles and lay down on
the benches. One of the others descended to the waist, walked along the
plank between the lines of sleeping slaves, and took up his place in
the bow, while the other paced up and down the poop, the fall of
his footsteps being the only sound to break the silence that reigned
throughout the ship.

In the morning, as soon as the knights had all taken a plunge in the
sea, the oars were got out, and the galley proceeded on her way. Passing
through the islands and skirting the southern shore of Greece, she
continued her course west. Malta was sighted, but they did not put in
there. Pantellaria was passed, and in a fortnight after leaving Rhodes,
Cape Bon, at the entrance to the bay of Tunis, was sighted. Until Greece
was left behind them, the nights had generally been spent in small
ports, where supplies of fresh meat, fish, and fruit, were obtainable.
So far no incident had marked the voyage. The weather had continued
fine, and they had heard nothing, from ships they had fallen in with,
of any Moslem pirates having been seen. A few hours, however, after
sighting the coast of Africa, a dark object was seen ahead.

"It is a ship of some sort," Ralph said; "but her masts have gone. It
may be that she is a merchantman that has been captured and sacked by
the Moorish pirates."

Orders were given to the rowers to quicken their pace, and in little
over an hour they were alongside the hull. As soon as the vessels were
close enough for those on the poop of the galley to look down on to
the deck of the other craft, it was seen that Ralph's suppositions were
correct. Two bodies lay stretched upon it. One was crushed under the
fallen mast; the other lay huddled up in a heap, a cannon ball having
al