gh, so long as they are doing military work at the convent,
it is well that they should not marry, yet there is no good reason why,
when established in commanderies at home, they should not, like other
knights and nobles, marry if it so pleases them."

In the evening the merchant returned from his stores, which were
situated down by the port. Soon after he came in he sent for Gervaise.
"There is a question I had intended to ask you last night," he said,
"but it escaped me. More than two months since there sailed from this
port and others many vessels--not the ships of the State, but corsairs.
In all, more than twenty ships started, with the intention of making a
great raid upon the coast of Italy. No word has since been received of
them, and their friends here are becoming very uneasy, the more so as we
hear that neither at Tunis nor Algiers has any news been received. Have
you heard at Rhodes of a Moorish fleet having been ravaging the coast of
Italy?"

"Have you any friends on board the ships that sailed from here, or any
interest in the venture, Ben Ibyn?"

The merchant shook his head. "We Berbers," he said, "are not like the
Moors, and have but little to do with the sea, save by the way of trade.
For myself, I regret that these corsair ships are constantly putting
out. Were it not for them and their doings we might trade with the ports
of France, of Spain, and Italy, and be on good terms with all. There is
no reason why, because our faiths are different, we should be constantly
fighting. It is true that the Turks threaten Europe, and are even now
preparing to capture Rhodes; but this is no question of religion. The
Turks are warlike and ambitious; they have conquered Syria, and war with
Egypt and Persia; but the Moorish states are small, they have no thought
of conquest, and might live peaceably with Europe were it not for the
hatred excited against them by the corsairs."

"In that case I can tell you the truth. Thirteen of those ships were
taken into Rhodes as prizes; the other eleven were burnt. Not one of the
fleet escaped."

Exclamations of surprise broke from Ben Ibyn, his wife, and daughters.

"I am astonished, indeed," the merchant said. "It was reported here that
the Genoese galleys were all laid up, and it was thought that they would
be able to sweep the seas without opposition, and to bring home vast
spoil and many captives, both from the ships they took and from many of
the villages and small towns