332 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



The young Turk started. 



" It is she, Hassan ! " he exclaimed. " It is Stras- 

 olda, the Christian maiden ! " 



" Oh, my father ! " cried the same voice in tones of 

 heartrending anguish. " How shall we deliver thee ? 

 Alas ! alas ! who can tell the tortures they will make 

 thee suffer in their dreadful dungeons 1 " 



The noise of the musketry became more and more 

 distinct. Some of the newly-arrived Uzcoques who 

 had hurried up the winding path, were soon heard 

 clamouring furiously for admittance at the castle 

 gates. 



" They will be too late ! " exclaimed the maiden, 

 wringing her hands in despair. The next moment 

 a sudden thought seemed to flash across her mind, 

 lending her fresh hope and energy. 



" Gracious Heaven ! " she exclaimed in joyful tones. 

 " Have we not here the cave, from which, invoked by 

 fire, the storm and the hurricane, the north wind and 

 the tempest, come forth and shatter the most stately 

 vessels against our iron-bound coast. 1 Up, Uzcoques, 



1 In Minucci's History of the Uzcoques, continued by Paola 

 Sarpi, we find the following : " Segna, through its position on 

 a cragged rock, was unapproachable by carts or horses, and 

 consequently by artillery. The harbour appertaining to it, 

 however, was tolerably good, but exceedingly difficult of access 

 on account of the north wind (vcnto di Buora), which blew 

 almost incessantly in the channel leading to it. According to 

 popular belief, the Segnarese had the power of causing this 

 wind to blow at will, by merely kindling a fire in a certain 



