“He was brought in by the galley that arrived last night,” he said; “he was the only slave sent up here.  I hear that he had been set aside to be appointed a servitor, but there are no vacancies, so they sent him here till one should occur; and I was ordered to make him useful in other ways in the meantime.”

“I am two or three hands short,” the overseer said.  “I wish now I had sent in an application yesterday, for if I had done so, no doubt they would have sent me some more men.  However, this fellow will make up an even number, and he is strong and active, though at present he looks sulky enough under his bad fortune.”

A few of the slaves spoke to Gervaise as they were waiting for food to be brought them, but the majority dropped upon the rushes, too exhausted with toil and heat to feel an interest in anything.  The food consisted of rye bread, with thin broth, brought in a great iron vessel.  Each slave had a horn, which was used for soup or water, and which, when done with, he had, by the rule enforced among themselves, to take out to the fountain in the courtyard and wash, before it was added to the pile in the corner of the room.

The cool of the evening aided the meal in restoring the energies of the slaves.  Several gathered round Gervaise, and asked questions as to what he knew of the prospects of an early invasion of Rhodes; but as soon as the officer left the room, closing and locking the door after him, the slaves became for the most part silent.  A few men sat in groups together, talking in undertones, but the greater number threw themselves down on the rushes, either to sleep or to think alone.  Gervaise was struck by the manner in which most of them lay, without making the slightest movement, so long as there was light to enable him to make out their figures.  He himself addressed two or three of them, as they lay with their eyes wide open, asking questions with reference to the work; but in no case did he receive any reply.  The men seemed altogether unconscious of being addressed, being absorbed in the thought of their far distant homes and families which they might never see again.

Gervaise walked a few times up and down the room, and as he approached a silence fell each time upon the groups of men talking together.  More than once a figure rose soon afterwards from the ground, and, as he came along again, asked him a few questions about himself.  As soon as it was dark, he lay down in a vacant space on the rushes.  Shortly afterwards talking ceased altogether, and there was quiet in the vaulted room.  With the first gleam of daylight they were astir, and, when the doors were opened, poured out into the courtyard, where all had a wash at the fountain.  Half an hour later, a meal, precisely similar to that of the previous evening, was served out; then the overseers called over the muster roll, the gangs were made up, and each, under its officer, started for its work.