The imminence of the peril inspired the Uzcoques with unwonted courage
and energy. Jurissa Caiduch himself, forgetting any cause of dislike
he might have to Dansowich, joined heart and hand in the plans formed
by the pirates for the deliverance of their leader. Every man in
Segna, whether young or old, all who could wield a cimeter or clutch a
knife, hastily armed themselves, and crowded into the fleet of long
light skiffs in which they were wont to make their predatory
excursions. Then breaking furiously through the line of Venetian
ships, stationed between Veglia and the mainland, and which were
totally unprepared for this sudden and daring manoeuvre, they
disappeared amidst the shoals and in the small creeks and inlets of
the Dalmatian islands belonging to the republic, where the ponderous
Venetian galleys would vainly attempt to follow them. Their object was
the same which they had already attempted to carry out in Venice on
the day of the Bridge Fight; namely, to seize upon some Venetian
magistrate or person of importance whom they might exchange for
Dansowich. Under the guidance of Jurissa Caiduch they waylaid and
boarded every vessel that passed up or down the Adriatic, especially
those coming from the Ionian islands, in hope of meeting with a
Venetian of rank. Nor did they pursue their researches upon the water
alone. Not a night passed that one or other of the islands was not
lighted up by the blaze of villages, hamlets, and villas. In the
absence of Dansowich, there was no restraint upon their fury; and
urged on by the bloodthirsty Jurissa, the cruelties they committed
were unprecedented even in their sanguinary annals. Nor were they
without hope that the barbarities they were perpetrating might induce
the Venetians to restore their leader to liberty, in order that he
might, as was well known to be his wont, check the excesses of his
followers.