"
It took a master mind to instil heart of grace into men who so recently had
had so bad a beating as these; but in the end they began to cheer up, and
to recollect how Barbarossa had sooner or later always risen from defeat as
strong or stronger than before; also they recalled the fact that he was the
chosen of the Padishah, and that that potentate, the representative of the
Prophet on earth, would assuredly come to his assistance now that Tunis,
which had been taken in his name, had been reft from Barbarossa by the
Christians. Gradually hope took the place of despair, and when the corsairs
took to the sea in the early part of the following year it was with renewed
confidence in both themselves and their leader.
CHAPTER XI
ROXALANA AND THE MURDER OF IBRAHIM
At the coming of spring Barbarossa was at sea again with thirty-two ships
ready for any eventuality, his crews aflame with ardour for revenge against
those by whom they had been so roughly handled. He chose for the scene of
operations a place on the coast of Majorca some fifteen miles from Palma;
from here he commanded the route of the Spaniards from their country to the
African coast, and it was against this nation that he felt a great
bitterness owing to recent events. Eagerly did the corsair and his men
watch for the Spanish ships, the heavier vessels lying at anchor, but the
light, swift galleys ranging and questing afar so that none might be
missed.
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