and said in Arabic,

"I give you courteous greeting, Sir. When the cannon cease to sound and
swords are sheathed, there is no longer animosity between brave men; and
no braver than those whose bodies lie stretched there, breathed the air
of heaven. If, sir, I and the knights with me do not uncover our heads,
it is from no want of respect for the dead, but solely because we dare
not stand bareheaded under the fierce rays of the sun."

The Turk answered with equal courtesy, complimenting the knights on
their defence.

"Had I not seen it with my own eyes," he said, "I should have deemed it
altogether impossible that so small a number of men could thus for hours
have withstood the attacks of some of the best of the sultan's troops.
Tales have come down to us from our fathers of the marvellous prowess
of the knights of your Order, and how at Smyrna, at Acre, and elsewhere,
they performed such feats of valour that their name is still used by
Turkish mothers as a bugbear to frighten their children. But the stories
have always seemed to me incredible; now I perceive they were true, and
that the present members of the Order in no way fall short of the valour
of their predecessors."

The knights remained with the Turkish commander and some of his officers
while the work of collecting and carrying away the dead was performed,
the conversation on their side being supported by Caretto and Gervaise.
No less than seven hundred bodies were carried down to the boats,
besides a great many wounded by the artillery fire. None were, however,
found breathing among the great pile of dead at the upper part of the
breach, for the axes and double handed swords of the knights had, in
most of the cases, cleft through turban and skull.

"This represents but part of our loss," the Turkish commander said
sadly, as the last party came down with their burdens to the boats.
"At least as many more must have perished in the sea, either in their
endeavours to escape when all was lost, in the destruction of their
vessels by fire, by the shot from your batteries, or by being run down
by your galleys. Ah, Sir Knight, if it had not been for the appearance
of your fire ships, methinks the matter might have ended differently."

"In that I altogether agree with you," Caretto said. "We were indeed,
well nigh spent, and must have soon succumbed had it not been that the
fire ships arrived to our rescue. You have a fair right to claim that
the victory would ha