Warned by the shouts and shrieks of their comrades that they had been taken in the rear, the Moslems who were defending the side of the poop wavered for a moment.  Ralph took advantage of their hesitation, and sprang on board, his companions pouring in after him.  There was a stern and desperate fight.  The Moslems fought with the fury of despair, disdaining to ask or accept quarter.  A few leapt overboard, preferring death by drowning to that by the swords of the Christians; but the great majority died fighting to the last.  A shout of triumph rose from the knights as the last of the Moslems fell.

The first impulse of all of them was to take off their helmets in order to breathe the fresh air, and for a while they all stood panting from their exertions.

“Nobly and gallantly done, comrades!” Gervaise exclaimed.  “This is indeed a victory of which we have all a right to be proud.  Now, the first thing is to free the slaves of their shackles; there are many white faces among them.  Let our langue look after the wounded, while the released captives clear the decks of the bodies of the fallen pirates.”

It took an hour’s hard work to knock off the chains of the slaves.  The greater portion of them were Christians —­ Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, and French, who had been captured in various raids by the corsairs; and among them were the crew of the ship that had been overhauled by the galley on the previous day.  Besides these, there were a few Moslems who had been sentenced to labour in the galleys for various crimes.

Among the Christians, the joy at their liberation was intense.  Some laughed, some cried, others were too overcome to speak coherently.  Among the rest were found, to the intense pleasure of their rescuers, three knights of the Order who had for years been missing.  They had been taken prisoners on an island at which the galley to which they belonged had touched.  Many of the knights had landed, and three of them, all belonging to the langue of Italy, had wandered away from the rest, and had not returned.  A search had been made for them, and it was discovered that a struggle had taken place.  As there were no marks of blood, it was supposed that they were suddenly pounced upon by a party of hidden marauders, who had been watching them from some hiding place, and had thrown themselves upon the knights before they had had time to draw their swords.  Following the trail by bushes broken down, and plants crushed under foot, it was found to lead to a creek on the other side of the island.  Here there were signs that a craft had been anchored, as there were the ashes of fires, fragments of food, and other matters, scattered about on the shore.  Hours had passed before the knights had been missed, and therefore the craft in which they had been carried off was long out of sight.  Letters were written by the grand master to the Pasha of Syria, to the Emperor of Egypt, and to the Bey of Tunis, offering to ransom the knights, but all replied that they were unaware of any such captives having been landed.