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.
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