nalcadi and the recalcitrant Hassan. Lurking in the neighbourhood of
Bizerta, he discovered El Judeo (the Jew), Cachidiablo (Hunt the Devil),
Salaerrez, Tabas, and other corsairs, who collectively composed a
formidable force. These were all old acquaintances and some old followers
of Kheyr-ed-Din, and to them did he relate the piteous tale of the
cowardice of Venalcadi, whom he accused of having deserted his brother Uruj
in his direst necessity, thereby causing his death; the abominable conduct
of Hassan, who had turned and bitten the hand that fed him. With tears in
his eyes did this accomplished actor reluctantly reveal the base
ingratitude of which he had been the recipient; so much did he contrive to
work upon the feelings of his auditors that they one and all vowed to stand
by him, and to replace him as ruler of Algiers, from which he had been
thrust by men whose shameful treachery was only equalled by their
ingratitude.

Forty sail in strength, they set out to avenge the wrongs of the gentle and
long-suffering Kheyr-ed-Din, that master of craft in every sense of the
word. Reaching Algiers, they disembarked artillery and stores and began an
attack in form; but Venalcadi, whose forces were equal, in fact slightly
superior, to those of his antagonists, made a sally, and battle was joined
in the open. A most sanguinary combat ensued, in which the forces of
Kheyr-ed-Din were decidedly worsted. For a considerable period his fate
hung in the balance. Then occurred one of those singular and remarkable
things only possible in such an age of anarchy and bloodshed. Barbarossa
had in his train sixty Spanish soldiers captured by him from the force of
Don Hugo de Moncada. Well did the corsair know their value: there were no
finer fighting men in all the Christian armies. Hastily summoning them, he
promised them their freedom if they would now throw in their lot with him
and assist in the downfall of Venalcadi.

The offer was no sooner made than accepted, and the Spanish veterans, fresh
and unwearied, threw themselves into the heart of the fray. Shoulder to
shoulder and blade to blade in their disciplined valour, they broke through
all opposition; they fought for liberty as well as life, to exchange the
noisome confinement of the piratical galley for the free air of their homes
and their country. Soon the soldiers of Venalcadi turned and fled back to
the city; the day was once again with Kheyr-ed-Din. For four days longer
did Al