the water's
edge. Two or three little clusters of houses could be seen as they rowed
along; one of these was on fire.

"That is good," Sir Louis exclaimed, as, on turning a point, they saw
the flames. "That cannot have been lighted long, and we are pretty
certain to come upon the vessels before the marauders have set sail."

Several inlets and small bays were passed, but all were empty. A few
fishing boats lay on the shore, but there were no signs of life, as no
doubt the people would, long since, have taken alarm and sought shelter
in the woods. There was a sharp point just before they reached the
southeastern extremity of the island, and as the galley shot past this,
a shout of exultation rose from the knights, for, near the mouth of an
inlet that now opened to their view, there lay four long, low vessels,
above each of which floated the Moslem flag. A number of men were
gathered on the shore near the ships, and heavily laden boats were
passing to and fro.

A yell of rage and alarm rose from the ships as the galley came into
view. There was a stir and movement on the shore, and numbers of men
leapt into the boats there, and started for the ships. These were some
quarter of a mile away when first seen, and half that distance had been
traversed when a puff of smoke shot out from the side of one of them,
followed almost immediately by a general discharge of their cannon. One
ball tore along the waist of the galley, killing six of the rowers, and
several oars on both sides were broken. Two balls passed through the
cabins in the poop. But there was no pause in the advance of the galley.
The whips of the slave masters cracked, and the rowers whose oars were
intact strained at them. There was no reply from the guns, but the
knights raised loud the war cry of the Order, a war cry that was never
heard without striking a thrill of apprehension among their Moslem foes.

As they neared the pirate ships, the helm was put down, and the galley
brought up alongside the largest of them and a broadside poured into
her; then the knights, headed by their commander, leapt on to her deck.

Although a number of the crew had not yet come off from shore, the
Moslems still outnumbered their assailants, and, knowing that their
consorts would soon come to their aid, they threw themselves in a body
on the Christians. But in a hand-to-hand conflict like this, the knights
of the Hospital were irresistible. Protected by their armour and long
s