All were glad when an order was published for the galley to sail.  On the eve of departure Gervaise was sent for by the grand master.  The general of the galleys was with him when Gervaise entered the room.  The bailiff of Auvergne always held the position of grand marshal, and the bailiff of Italy that of second in command, with the title of grand admiral.  These officials, however, as heads of their respective langues, had many other duties to perform, and it was only on great occasions that they took any practical share in the work of which they were nominally heads.  The real control in all naval questions rested with the general of the galleys, who was elected by the council, but on the nomination of the grand master.

His power when at sea with the fleet was absolute.  He could suspend any officer from duty, and had unquestioned power of life and death over the crews.  He had been frequently on board the galley since she had been launched, and had been pleased with the attention paid by Gervaise to his duties, and with the ready manner in which the young knights carried out his orders.

“Sir Gervaise Tresham,” he said, “it is usual, as you know, to appoint each galley to a certain cruising ground, to which it is confined during its three months’ absence.  At present there is a galley on each of these stations, and as the last relief took place but a month since, it is better that they should remain at the stations allotted to them.  I have therefore, after consultation with his Highness the grand master, decided to give you a free hand.  You are as likely to meet with pirates in one quarter as in another, and you will pick up from vessels you may overhaul news of their doings, which will enable you to direct your course to the point where you will be most useful.”

“In the first place, however, you will proceed to the coast of Tunis.  Visconti’s galley is already there, but the coast swarms with corsairs, and we have had many complaints as to their depredations.  The Court of Spain has twice represented to us lately that the pirates have grown so bold that vessels have been carried off, even when coasting from one Spanish port to another.  Visconti is specially watching the coast near Tunis, and you will therefore perhaps do better to proceed farther west, for every village from Tunis to Tangier is little better than a nest of pirates.  I should imagine that you will find ample employment there during your three months’ cruise.  When I say that you are free to choose your own cruising ground, I do not mean that you should go up the Levant, or to the east of the Mediterranean, but that you are not bound to keep close along the African coast, but may, should you obtain any information to warrant your doing so, seek the pirates along the shores of Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, or Sicily.