to be done.  Their offer had been accepted, and they had, in common with all the sailors in the port, laboured at the construction of the inner wall.  When that was completed, Sir John Boswell, under whose special charge they had been placed, said to Gervaise, “I think that I cannot do better than send these men down to St. Nicholas.  It is probable that now the Turks see that they can do nothing at the new breach, they may try again there.  Sailors are accustomed to night watches, and there are many of our knights who are not used to such work, and can be better trusted to defend a breach than to keep a vigilant watch at night.  Will you take these men down to Caretto, and tell him that he can sleep soundly if he has a couple of them on watch?  One of them, Roger Jervis, who is the mate of their ship, can speak some Italian, and as he is in command of them, Caretto will find no trouble in making them understand him.”

St. Nicholas had now been put into a fair state of defence, as a party had been kept steadily at work there.  Gervaise had not been to the tower since the morning after the assault, and saw with satisfaction how much had been done to render it secure.  He found that Caretto was fast recovering from his wounds.

“As it seems probable, Sir Fabricius,” he said, after the first greetings to the knight, “that the Turks will favour you with another visit, I have brought you five watchdogs.  They are countrymen of mine, and were among those who navigated the fire ships the other day.  Sir John Boswell has sent them down; they are, of course, accustomed to keep watch at night.  One of them is mate of their vessel, and will be in command of them; he speaks a little Italian, and so will understand any orders you may give him.  I have been speaking to him as we came down; he will divide his men into two watches, and will himself be on guard all night.  Will you assign them some quiet place where they can sleep in the daytime?  They can erect a shelter with a piece of sail cloth and a few bits of board, and they will, of course, be furnished with food.”

“I shall be very glad to have them, for I am always restless at night, lest those on watch should close their eyes.  You see, they have quite made up their minds that this fort will not be attacked again, and so are less inclined to be vigilant than they would be, did they think that an attack was impending.”

Now that there was reason to believe that St. Nicholas might again be attacked, Gervaise was frequently there with orders or inquiries from the grand master.  A number of vessels in the harbour were fitted up as fire ships, so as to be in readiness when the attack came.  He was about to start early one morning when he saw Roger Jervis coming up with a heavy anchor on his shoulder.

“Why, what are you bringing that up here for?” he asked.  “Have you been diving; for I see your clothes are dripping with water?”