"Call all hands to shorten sail," the skipper said calmly to Mr. Bludsoe.
The ship was made snug; the sails were furled; the spars, water casks, and boats were lashed; the hatches were battened down.
Seeing that the men were thoroughly cowed, the skipper passed the word to the cook to serve them with breakfast. From the galley came the sound of pots and pans. The peace meal was ready.
CHAPTER VII BETRAYED
It grew warmer as we approached Gibraltar. Flying fish arose from the water and shot over the surface like silver arrows. Porpoises frolicked around us. Flocks of sea-gulls followed us as we passed the southern coast of Europe. Through the Azores we sailed until we came in sight of the red cliffs of St. Vincent, on the Portugal coast. Then we entered the Straits of Gibraltar and caught our first sight of the mountainous African coast.
I had better note here that three continents form the shores of the Mediterranean Sea—Europe, Asia and Africa. The entrance to this sea from the Atlantic is guarded by the Pillars of Hercules, formed by Gibraltar on the European shore and "the Mount of God" on the African side. These pillars, it interested me to discover, were thought by the ancients to have been left standing by Hercules as monuments to his might when he tore asunder the continents. It will be remembered that along the sea these monuments of nature guarded, civilization had been cradled. Art, architecture, law, poetry, drama, and religion had come into being on these coasts. The treasure tomb that now nightly filled my dreams had doubtless been laid in these early days.
And now, as the events of my story have so much to do with this North African shore, let us have a clear understanding of its cities and people. The coast is called Barbary, because the race that inhabits it are named Berbers. They belong to the same stock as the Anglo-Saxons and many of them have fair complexions, rosy cheeks and light hair. They are fanatical Mohammedans, and despise us because we are Christians. The Moors and Arabs, who are descended from the Mussulman warriors who captured Africa centuries ago, abound here too, and are the people with whom our quarrel lies.
Barbary is sometimes called Little Africa. It extends from Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea back to the Sahara desert. Just over the way from Gibraltar lies Morocco. It is a little city with white walls surrounded by great hills. Most of the cities of Barbary are similarly situated between mountains and water.