able, conferring with
none, the grim old Sea-wolf sat in his palace overlooking the bay and
considered the question of whether he should give battle by land or sea
when the time came. If it were possible, he came to the conclusion that it
should be the latter; he had been evicted from his kingdom on land once
before, but he knew that in the open ocean few cared to face Barbarossa,
and he might fall on Doria first and the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem
second if matters turned out favourably for him. In any case, he must
summon all the aid that was possible.

East and west flew the galleys of Kheyr-ed-Din, scudding before the wind if
that were favourable, or churning the surface of the sea with straining,
strenuous oars should the wind be foul or a calm prevail.

It was an appeal for aid to the Moslem corsairs from Algiers, from Tlemcen,
from Oran, from Los Gelues (or Jerbah), and from all the countless islands
of the Archipelago, where they lurked to seize their prey--Tunis, which
flew the Crescent flag of the Prophet, was in danger--let them rally
against the grandson of the man who expelled the Moors from Spain.

Grim and sinister, the corsairs came flocking to the standard of
Barbarossa. Well they knew that, should he fall, it was but a matter of
time for them all to be chased from off the face of the waters. Of cohesion
there was but little among them, and, in spite of the bond of a common
religion and a common hatred of the Christian, they were swayed far more by
a lust for plunder than by such considerations as these. In times of
imminent danger, however, men naturally crave for a leader, and in
piratical circles all was now subordinated to the instinct of
self-preservation.

Meanwhile, in Christendom their great enemy was maturing his plans. To the
Marquis de Canete, Viceroy and Captain-General of the Kingdom of Navarre,
Charles wrote, confiding to his care the charge of the Empress, with
instructions that her orders were to be implicitly obeyed during his
absence. Having done this he journeyed to Barcelona, at which city he
arrived on April 8th, 1535. Here he was immediately joined by the armada of
Portugal--twenty caravelas raised, armed, and paid for by the King, Don
Juan of Portugal. This fleet was commanded by the Infante Don Luis, brother
to the Empress, and carried on board the vessels of which it was composed a
whole host of nobles and gentlemen of quality, who had come to fight under
the approving