In the evening the merchant returned from his stores, which were situated down by the port.  Soon after he came in he sent for Gervaise.  “There is a question I had intended to ask you last night,” he said, “but it escaped me.  More than two months since there sailed from this port and others many vessels —­ not the ships of the State, but corsairs.  In all, more than twenty ships started, with the intention of making a great raid upon the coast of Italy.  No word has since been received of them, and their friends here are becoming very uneasy, the more so as we hear that neither at Tunis nor Algiers has any news been received.  Have you heard at Rhodes of a Moorish fleet having been ravaging the coast of Italy?”

“Have you any friends on board the ships that sailed from here, or any interest in the venture, Ben Ibyn?”

The merchant shook his head.  “We Berbers,” he said, “are not like the Moors, and have but little to do with the sea, save by the way of trade.  For myself, I regret that these corsair ships are constantly putting out.  Were it not for them and their doings we might trade with the ports of France, of Spain, and Italy, and be on good terms with all.  There is no reason why, because our faiths are different, we should be constantly fighting.  It is true that the Turks threaten Europe, and are even now preparing to capture Rhodes; but this is no question of religion.  The Turks are warlike and ambitious; they have conquered Syria, and war with Egypt and Persia; but the Moorish states are small, they have no thought of conquest, and might live peaceably with Europe were it not for the hatred excited against them by the corsairs.”

“In that case I can tell you the truth.  Thirteen of those ships were taken into Rhodes as prizes; the other eleven were burnt.  Not one of the fleet escaped.”

Exclamations of surprise broke from Ben Ibyn, his wife, and daughters.

“I am astonished, indeed,” the merchant said.  “It was reported here that the Genoese galleys were all laid up, and it was thought that they would be able to sweep the seas without opposition, and to bring home vast spoil and many captives, both from the ships they took and from many of the villages and small towns of the coast.  How came such a misfortune to happen to them?  It will create consternation here when it is known, for although it was not a state enterprise, the sultan himself and almost all the rich Moors embarked money in the fitting out of the ships, and were to have shares in the spoil taken.  How happened it that so strong a fleet was all taken or destroyed, without even one vessel being able to get away to carry home the news of the disaster?”