Cross which Constantine the Great had planted on the walls 1125 years
before was replaced by the Crescent, and the Christian Cathedral became
that Mosque of St. Sophia which still endures.

From the earliest days of the Moslem corsairs of the Mediterranean they
were in close communication with their co-religionists of the Ottoman
Empire; and this for a very good reason, which was that the Turk had not
the habit of the sea, but was essentially a land warrior, and, as the story
of the Sea-wolves progresses, we shall see how in a sense the Grand Turk
and the pirates became interdependent in the ceaseless wars which were
waged in the epoch of which we treat.

The fall of Constantinople resounded throughout Christendom as though it
had been the crack of doom, and all men held their breath wondering what
next might portend. So stunned were the maritime States that they took no
action, letting "I dare not wait upon I would." Their indecision was fatal.
Had the Venetians, the Genoese, and the Catalans at this juncture formed an
alliance, they might have chased the Turks from off the face of the waters;
but to mutual jealousy and indecision was added fear--fear of this new and
mighty power which had arisen and had swept away one of the landmarks of
Europe. So it fell out that Genoa entered into an arrangement with the
Grand Turk, and Venice concluded a treaty of commerce on April 18th, 1454.
It was the Caliph Mahomet who first fortified the Dardanelles, where he
mounted thirty heavy guns before which Jacques Loredano, the Venetian
admiral, recoiled, reporting to the Republic that henceforward none could
pass the Straits. We have, however, nothing to do with the Grand Turk in
these pages, save, and except in so far, as he had an effect on the lives
of the corsairs. This effect will develop itself as we proceed.

There is one body of men, however, concerning whom it may be as well to