"It is she, Hassan!" he exclaimed. "It is Strasolda, the Christian maiden!"

"Oh, my father!" cried the same voice in tones of heart-rending anguish.
"How shall we deliver thee? Alas! alas! who can tell the tortures they
will make thee suffer in their dreadful dungeons?"

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.[4] Up, Uzcoques, and fire the cavern! Let
the elements do battle for us. Perchance by their aid the bark of your
leader Dansowich may yet escape its foes and reach the haven."

[4] 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, (vento 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 hollow of the cliffs. The mysterious