slems who
had been sentenced to labour in the galleys for various crimes.

Among the Christians, the joy at their liberation was intense. Some
laughed, some cried, others were too overcome to speak coherently. Among
the rest were found, to the intense pleasure of their rescuers, three
knights of the Order who had for years been missing. They had been taken
prisoners on an island at which the galley to which they belonged
had touched. Many of the knights had landed, and three of them, all
belonging to the langue of Italy, had wandered away from the rest, and
had not returned. A search had been made for them, and it was discovered
that a struggle had taken place. As there were no marks of blood, it
was supposed that they were suddenly pounced upon by a party of hidden
marauders, who had been watching them from some hiding place, and had
thrown themselves upon the knights before they had had time to draw
their swords. Following the trail by bushes broken down, and plants
crushed under foot, it was found to lead to a creek on the other side
of the island. Here there were signs that a craft had been anchored,
as there were the ashes of fires, fragments of food, and other matters,
scattered about on the shore. Hours had passed before the knights had
been missed, and therefore the craft in which they had been carried off
was long out of sight. Letters were written by the grand master to
the Pasha of Syria, to the Emperor of Egypt, and to the Bey of Tunis,
offering to ransom the knights, but all replied that they were unaware
of any such captives having been landed.

An attempt had then been made to ascertain whether they had been carried
to Tripoli; but the bey had little authority over the various tribesmen
along the coast, and only replied that no such captives had been sold in
the city. Thus all hope of ransoming them had died away, and their names
were inscribed in the list of those who had fallen into the hands of the
infidels, but of whose subsequent fate no clue could be obtained.

All were greatly emaciated, and their faces showed signs of the
sufferings they had undergone. The young knights were all familiar
with their names, but personally none had known them, for they had been
carried off two or three months before Gervaise and Ralph Harcourt had
arrived at Rhodes.

All three had struggled desperately to break their chains while the
fight was going on, and had, as soon as the contest was decided, risen
to their