aimed at the poops and forecastles, where the corsairs were clustered
together, and consequently the number of galley slaves who had fallen
was comparatively small.

In none of the galleys was the proportion of Christians anything like so
large as that in the three prizes first taken, the greater portion being
men of inland tribes who had been captured in warfare, or malefactors
who, instead of being executed, had been sold to the corsairs.
Nevertheless, in the six galleys some seventy Christians were found,
and at once freed. It was terrible to think that in the galleys that had
been destroyed a large number of Christians must have perished in the
flames, and Gervaise expressed bitter regret that he had not considered
that his attack by fire ships must necessarily involve the loss of so
many Christian lives.

"It can't be helped," Ralph said, as Gervaise poured out his feelings to
him. "To very many of them death must have been welcome, and if we had
not attacked them as we did, and they had sailed for Italy, hundreds,
if not thousands, of Christians would have been killed, and as many more
carried away into captivity; so, you see, the balance is all in favour
of the course we adopted."

Gervaise admitted this, but nevertheless his regret at the fate of
so many unfortunate captives quite overpowered for the time his
satisfaction at the complete success that had been achieved. The victory
had been almost a bloodless one on the part of the assailants. A few of
the knights had received wounds. Two among the Christian crews had been
killed, and four Sards; while two score had received wounds more or less
serious, as, unlike the knights, they had no defensive armour. While
waiting for daylight to appear, all their wounds were dressed and
bandaged by the knights.

In the morning the captured galleys were towed out, and anchored a short
distance away, and then Gervaise rowed up to the head of the inlet,
followed by the other three ships. They found that eleven of the
corsairs had been burnt, and to their satisfaction, they discovered four
uninjured galleys lying there, deserted, save by the slaves.

Seeing the fate of their comrades who had first issued out, the
commanders had, instead of trying to escape, rowed quietly to the head
of the inlet, the movement being covered by the flame and smoke, and had
there landed, having laden themselves with stores for their support on
shore. This was a great satisfaction to the kni