o sell you, they may tell it in Venice that Ruggiero Mocenigo is a
pirate, and an ally of the Moors. As for me, there is, I think, but
small chance of escape; but at any rate, if you ever reach Venice, you
will be able to tell the padrone how it was that we never arrived at
Corfu, and how I fell into the hands of his old enemy. Still, I do not
despair that I may carry the message myself. There is many a slip
between the cup and the lip, and Mocenigo may have cause, yet, to
regret that he did not make an end of me as soon as he got me into his
hands."

"It may be so," the captain said, "and indeed I cannot think that so
brave a young gentleman is destined to die, miserably, at the hands of
such a scoundrel as this man has shown himself to be. As for death, did
it come but speedily and sharply, I would far sooner die than live a
Moorish slave. Santa Maria, how they will wonder at home, when the days
go on, and the Naxos does not return, and how at last they will give up
all hope, thinking that she has gone down in a sudden squall, and never
dreaming that we are sold as slaves to the Moors by a countryman!"

"Keep up your heart, captain. Be sure that when the war with Genoa is
over, Venice will take the matter in hand. As you know, a vessel has
already carried tidings thither of the depredation of a Moorish
cruiser, and she will take vengeance on the Moors, and may even force
them to liberate the captives they have taken; and besides, you may be
sure that the padrone, when he hears of the Moorish galley, and finds
we never reached Corfu although the weather continued fine, will guess
that we have fallen into her hands, and will never rest till he finds
where we have been taken, and will ransom those who survive at whatever
price they may put upon them."

"He will do his best, I know. He is a good master to serve. But once a
prisoner among the Moors, the hope of one's ever being heard of again
is slight. Sometimes, of course, men have been ransomed; but most, as I
have heard, can never be found by their friends, however ready they may
be to pay any ransom that might be asked. It just depends whether they
are sold to a Moor living in a seaport or not. If they are, there would
be no great difficulty in hearing of them, but if they are sold into
the interior, no inquiries are ever likely to discover them."

"You must hope for the best," Francis said. "Chances of escape may
occur, and I have heard that Christian captives, wh