wars of the Christians against the Turks, the Moors,
and the Arabs. In one of these wars he was taken prisoner by King El
Uchali of Algiers; he had previously advanced to the rank of captain. He
was held a captive for a long time, first at Constantinople, then at
Tunis, then at Algiers. At Constantinople he encountered a good many
other Christian prisoners. Particularly he remembered one Don Pedro de
Augilar, a brave soldier and a native of Andalusia, who, he said, had
written some very excellent poetry. He especially spoke of two sonnets
which he had liked so well that he had learned them by heart. One day Don
Pedro succeeded in making his escape, but what had become of him he had
never heard.

As soon as the captive had spoken Don Pedro's name, the ladies and Don
Fernando exchanged glances and smiled, and Don Fernando could not
refrain from informing the narrator that Don Pedro was his brother.
Furthermore, he said, he was safe in Andalusia, where he was happily
married, in the best of health, and had three robust children. Then he
touched on his brother's gift for composing poetry, and said that the
very two sonnets the captive had mentioned, he himself knew by heart.
Whereupon every one asked him to recite them, and so he did with fine
feeling and intelligence. Then the captive resumed his story.

At Algiers, he said, there lived, overlooking the prison, a great
alcaide named Hadji Morato, a very rich man, who had but one child, a
daughter of great beauty. She had learned the Christian prayer from a
slave of her father's, when she was a child; the things that this
Christian woman had taught her had made her long to know more about
the religion and to become a Christian herself. This beautiful
Algerian maiden had seen the captive from her window, and she liked
him, and one day she managed to get a message to him, begging him to
escape and to take her with him. From time to time she would throw to
him gold coins wrapped in cloth, and these he would hide until finally
he had enough to buy not only himself but some other prisoners free
from their slavery.

However, in order to effect the escape of the maiden, the captive was
obliged to take into his confidence an old Algerian renegade who
turned out to be a believer in Christ. With this man the captive sent
messages to Zoraida. Now, this renegade was a sly fellow, and he
bought a small vessel with which he began to ply to and fro between
the city and some islands ne