side her I dived again, and rose under your
stern. I did not think that you would be able to take her, for all their
craft are crowded with troops; so I contented myself with holding on
until you were out of reach of their arrows, and then I climbed up."

"I am delighted to see you again, Gervaise. I was feeling very sore at
the moment, and I know the others felt the same, at being obliged to
sheer off without making a capture; but the grand master's orders were
strict. We noted your craft pursued by the Turks, and I asked leave to
take out a galley to cut her off. He said, 'Take one, Sir John, but do
not adventure an attack against the Turk unless she is likely to fall
an easy prize to you. Her capture would be of little benefit to us, and
would be dearly purchased at the cost of a knight's life. Therefore,
as soon as we engaged her, and I found that she was full of troops and
could not be captured without heavy loss, and that two of her consorts
might arrive before we accomplished it, it was plainly my duty to
abandon the attempt, although, you may guess, it went sorely against
the grain to give the order, especially as I knew that a host would be
looking on from St. Stephen's Hill. However, your rescue more than makes
up for our failure; and thankful indeed am I that I made the suggestion
that we should put out to save that little craft, though I thought it
contained but a few fishermen or some coasting sailors, who had, in
ignorance that the Turks were at hand, tried to enter Rhodes. One of
those looking on with me did, indeed, suggest that she might have on
board a knight or two coming to join us, but I did not give the matter a
second thought."

"And how go things, Sir John? And how are old friends?"

"Ralph Harcourt and, I think, all your comrades in the Santa Barbara,
except the three who fell by your side when you were captured, are well,
and at present on the Island, as, for the last two years, none have been
allowed to depart. As to other matters, they go not so well as one could
wish. The commanderies have not responded to our call for aid as they
should have done. For this, however, they are not altogether to blame,
for we have been so often threatened with attack, and have so frequently
applied for aid in money or men, that they must have begun to doubt
whether the danger was really imminent. In other respects we are well
prepared. We have obtained large stores of provisions from Egypt, and
shall have no