Moors
made another stand, but the knights forced their way up, and in two
minutes all was over.

"Now to the aid of our comrades!" Gervaise shouted, as the last of the
corsairs was struck down.

Ralph's party had indeed cleared the poop of the galley, but they in
vain endeavoured to climb up on to that of the third pirate ship, whose
superior height gave a great advantage to its defenders. Gervaise leapt
down on to the bow of the galley, followed by the knights, and then ran
aft until he could climb into the waist of the pirate. So intent were
the corsairs upon defending the poop that they did not see what was
going on elsewhere, and Gervaise had obtained a fair footing before he
was noticed. Then a number of men ran down and attacked his party. But
it was too late, for the whole of the knights had, by this time, leaped
on board. Their assailants were forced back, and, pressing close upon
them, the knights gained the poop before the main body of the pirates
were aware of their coming.

Warned by the shouts and shrieks of their comrades that they had been
taken in the rear, the Moslems who were defending the side of the poop
wavered for a moment. Ralph took advantage of their hesitation, and
sprang on board, his companions pouring in after him. There was a
stern and desperate fight. The Moslems fought with the fury of despair,
disdaining to ask or accept quarter. A few leapt overboard, preferring
death by drowning to that by the swords of the Christians; but the great
majority died fighting to the last. A shout of triumph rose from the
knights as the last of the Moslems fell.

The first impulse of all of them was to take off their helmets in order
to breathe the fresh air, and for a while they all stood panting from
their exertions.

"Nobly and gallantly done, comrades!" Gervaise exclaimed. "This is
indeed a victory of which we have all a right to be proud. Now, the
first thing is to free the slaves of their shackles; there are many
white faces among them. Let our langue look after the wounded, while the
released captives clear the decks of the bodies of the fallen pirates."

It took an hour's hard work to knock off the chains of the slaves. The
greater portion of them were Christians--Greeks, Italians, Spaniards,
and French, who had been captured in various raids by the corsairs; and
among them were the crew of the ship that had been overhauled by the
galley on the previous day. Besides these, there were a few Mo