178 THE BOY CRUSADERS.

And thereupon the good Saracen, taking pity
on their distress, ran to tell the emirs; and one of
them coming, told Joinville to be of good cheer, for
he would bring a drink that should cure him in two
days. Under the influence of this beverage, the
seneschal ere long recovered; and when he was well,
he was sent for by the admiral, who commanded the
sultan’s galleys. | |

‘Are you, asked the admiral, ‘the king’s cousin,
as was reported ?’

‘No,’ answered Joinville, ‘I am not;’ and he in-
formed the admiral why it had been stated.

‘You were well advised,’ said the admiral ; § for
otherwise you would have been all murdered, and
cast into the river. Have you any acquaintance with
the Emperor Frederic, or are you of his lineage ?’

‘Truly,’ replied Joinville, ‘I have heard my mother
say that I am the emperor’s second cousin.’

‘Ah,’ said the admiral, ‘I rejoice to hear it; and
I love you all the better on that account.’

It appears that Joinville became quite friendly
with the admiral, and was treated by him with
kindness; and, on Sunday, when it was ordered that
all the Crusaders who had been taken prisoners on
the Nile should be brought to a castle on the banks,
Joinville was invited to go thither in the admiral’s
company. On that occasion, the seneschal had to
endure the horror of seeing his chaplain dragged
from the hold of his galley and instantly killed and
flung into the water; and scarcely was this over
When the chaplain’s clerk was dragged out of the
hold, so weak that he could hardly stand, felled on