und their loins, Tristram had time to take stock of
his companions, and even to ask a question or two of the slave that
had spoken to him. They were all stalwart fellows, the Commodore
having the pick of all the _forcats_ drafted to his port, and
exercising it with some care, because he prided himself on the speed
of his vessel. Not a few wore on their cheeks the ghastly red
fleur-de-lis, which he now knew for the mark of deserters, murderers,
and the more flagrant criminals; others, he learned, were condemned
for the pettiest thefts, and a large proportion for having no better
taste than to belong to the Protestant religion. The man beside him,
for instance, was a poor Huguenot from Perigord, who had been caught
on the frontier in the act of escaping to a country in which he had a
slightly better chance of calling his soul his own. All these were
white men; but at the end of each bench, next the gangway, sat a Turk
or Moor. These were bought slaves, procured expressly to manage the
stroke of the oar, and for their skill treated somewhat better than
the Christians. They earned the same pay as the soldiers, and were
not chained, like other slaves, to the benches, but carried only a
ring on the foot as a badge of servitude. Indeed, when not engaged
in service, they enjoyed a certain amount of liberty, being allowed
to go on shore and trade, purchasing meat for such of the white men
as had any money or were willing to earn some by clearing their
neighbours' clothes of vermin--a common trade on board these galleys,
where the confined space, the dirt and profuse sweating at the oar
bred all manner of loathsome pests.

It was by degrees that Tristram learnt all this, as during the week
that followed he found time to chat with the Huguenot and improve his
acquaintance with the French tongue. By night he was provided with a
board, a foot and a half wide, on which to stretch himself; and as he
lay pretty far aft, was warned against scratching himself, lest the
rattle of his chains should disturb the officers, whose quarters were
divided from the slaves' by the thinnest of wooden partitions.
By day, indeed, these officers, as well as the chaplain, had the use
of the Commodore's room, a fairly spacious chamber in the stern,
shaped on the outside like a big cradle, with bulging windows and a
couple of lanterns on the taffrail above, that were lit when evening
closed in. But at night, or in foul weather, M. de la Pailletine