lt was a stalemate, as the Spaniards could by no manner
of means get out, and neither could their enemies, who swarmed innumerable
in the town and the surrounding country, get in. In time, of course, they
might hope to bring the garrison to surrender by starvation; but time
pressed, and no man knew when the troubles in Spain might be adjusted and
help come to the beleaguered. In the meanwhile Selim Eutemi and his men,
who had been taught some rude lessons in the power of firearms, kept out of
range of the cannon, while the Algerines held yet another council of war,
the result of which was that they decided to ask help from Uruj and
Kheyr-ed-Din Barbarossa, and to them they appealed. By this time their fame
was known to all men, and they could supply that which was lacking--namely
ships, artillery, a first-class fighting force, and last, and best of all,
the moral support which would stiffen and put heart into the motley horde
which at present surged around the gates of the fortress of Navarro.

The Algerines did not appeal in vain, and an instant promise of succour was
forthcoming. Kheyr--ed--Din was away at sea, but Uruj, that indomitable
fighter, started at once. From whence we are not told, but he must have
been somewhere in the neighbourhood, as he and his men marched along the
shore; while, keeping pace with them, came a fleet of eighteen galleys and
three barques laden with stores.

But before proceeding to the assistance of the Algerines Uruj had a
personal matter to which to attend, and he wished to combine pleasure with
serious business. One of his old companions had seceded from his command
and had established himself at Shershell, where he lived the life of an
independent corsair within easy striking distance of the Balearic Islands
and the coast of Spain, his following composed of a horde of those broken
men of whom mention has been made. Shershell was an unfortified town, and
surrendered unconditionally upon the arrival of Uruj and his army.
Kara-Hassan, for such was the name of this independent corsair, came out to
greet his old-time chief; he was met with violent reproaches, and the
altercation ended by Uruj having him beheaded on the spot. It was ill to
quarrel with the Barbarossas.

Freed from this rival, the Mitylene corsair had now uncontested supremacy
on the coast, a supremacy none was likely to contest in the future, as he
brooked no opposition, and had come to consider that independent piracy in