Arabic.

It was towards the end of that six months that the event took place
which was to restore Sir Oliver to liberty. In the meanwhile those limbs
of his which had ever been vigorous beyond the common wont had acquired
an elephantine strength. It was ever thus at the oar. Either you died
under the strain, or your thews and sinews grew to be equal to their
relentless task. Sir Oliver in those six months was become a man
of steel and iron, impervious to fatigue, superhuman almost in his
endurance.

They were returning home from a trip to Genoa when one evening as they
were standing off Minorca in the Balearic Isles they were surprised by
a fleet of four Muslim galleys which came skimming round a promontory to
surround and engage them.

Aboard the Spanish vessel there broke a terrible cry of
"Asad-ed-Din"--the name of the most redoubtable Muslim corsair since the
Italian renegade Ochiali--the Ali Pasha who had been killed at Lepanto.
Trumpets blared and drums beat on the poop, and the Spaniards in morion
and corselet, armed with calivers and pikes, stood to defend their lives
and liberty. The gunners sprang to the culverins. But fire had to
be kindled and linstocks ignited, and in the confusion much time
was lost--so much that not a single cannon shot was fired before
the grappling irons of the first galley clanked upon and gripped the
Spaniard's bulwarks. The shock of the impact was terrific. The armoured
prow of the Muslim galley--Asad-ed-Din's own--smote the Spaniard a
slanting blow amidships that smashed fifteen of the oars as if they had
been so many withered twigs.

There was a shriek from the slaves, followed by such piteous groans as
the damned in hell may emit. Fully two score of them had been struck by
the shafts of their oars as these were hurled back against them. Some
had been killed outright, others lay limp and crushed, some with broken
backs, others with shattered limbs and ribs.

Sir Oliver would assuredly have been of these but for the warning,
advice, and example of Yusuf, who was well versed in galley-fighting
and who foresaw clearly what must happen. He thrust the oar upward and
forward as far as it would go, compelling the others at his bench to
accompany his movement. Then he slipped down upon his knees, released
his hold of the timber, and crouched down until his shoulders were on
a level with the bench. He had shouted to Sir Oliver to follow his
example, and Sir Oliver without even knowing