reparations for departure were complete, and a
sufficient number of men were engaged to man the prizes. This charge,
also, Genoa took upon itself, and put on board much stronger crews than
Gervaise deemed necessary for the navigation of the ships. The weather
was fine and the wind favourable, and a quick passage was made to
Rhodes. When the harbour was in sight, the ships were ordered to proceed
in single file, the galley leading the way with a huge banner of the
Order floating from her stern, and smaller flags on staffs at each side.
It was not until they passed by the two forts guarding the entrance that
the flags fluttering at the mastheads of the prizes afforded to those
on shore an intimation of the event that had taken place, and even then
none supposed that this fleet of prizes had been taken by the one galley
that headed them.

As the Santa Barbara slowly rowed up the harbour, the State barge of
the grand master put off to meet it, and D'Aubusson, with a party of
knights, soon stepped on board.

"Welcome back, Sir Gervaise! although I little expected to see you
return so soon. What is the meaning of this procession that follows you?
By their rig and appearance they are Moors, but how they come to be thus
sailing in your wake is a mystery to us all."

"They are Moors, your Excellency; they form part of an expedition fitted
out by the corsairs of Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, and other piratical
strongholds, for the purpose of destroying the commerce and ravaging the
coasts of Western Italy. Fortunately, we fell in with a ship that had
been plundered by three of them on their way north, and learned from the
dying captain, who was the only one of her crew left with life on board,
the direction they were taking, and something of the nature of the
expedition. We pursued the three galleys, came up with them, had the
good fortune to capture them, and then had the delight of finding among
their rowers the noble knights, Fabricius Caretto, Giacomo Da Vinci, and
Pietro Forzi."

The grand master, and the knights with him, uttered an exclamation of
joy, and, as the three knights named stepped forward, embraced them with
the liveliest pleasure.

"My dear Caretto," the grand master exclaimed, "it is almost a
resurrection, for we have all long mourned you as dead; and your return
to us at the present time is indeed fortunate; for upon whose judgment
and aid could I better rely than those of my old comrade in arms?" Then,
turn