The worst danger the Christians faced was an insidious one--the plague. In the hot, damp air of Africa a fever arises from decaying animal substances, which is spread about by swarms of locusts. A person may be attacked by only a slight fever, but he soon becomes delirious and too weak to move. In five days his body begins to turn black and then death comes. It is the black pestilence, and it attacks slaves and rulers without choice. If it had not been for a hospital maintained by Spanish priests, most of the captives would have died. As it was, many Christians perished. Murad came into our thoughts as we brooded over Alexander's plight. He was still in Baltimore and still attended the chapel services. Did he have influence enough, we asked, to obtain my brother's freedom? The commodore had sworn that the Egyptian went to church only for the purpose of ingratiating himself with Americans upon whom he had designs. The rector had retorted that he could not allow himself to suspect one of his flock of any but pure motives when entering the house of God. He himself, I felt, disliked the man from the East, but he concealed it well. Therefore, when Murad came to our door, the rector invited him into the library and told him briefly what had happened. "I am heart-broken over it!" Murad exclaimed, gazing at me with his great liquid eyes, "and I am helpless because I am no longer a follower of Mohammed; yet your Government will surely be able to ransom your brother and his comrades. I do not think their lives will be in danger if your statesmen appropriate the money promptly. It's shocking, of course, yet it's quite the usual thing to pay these ransoms. England, Spain, France--all do it. You see, ever since the days when the Queen of Sheba brought tribute to King Solomon, the Orientals have been trained to look for gifts from foreigners who touch their shores." The rector looked dismayed at this attempt to justify kidnapping by the Scriptures. "It's time," he said, "for this western world to teach those ruffians that blackmail is blackmail and that murder is murder!" He fumbled with the envelope that had contained Alexander's letter. A slip of paper slid out. He read to us this memorandum, written by my brother: _Amount of Ransom demanded by the Dey of Algiers for the Release of American captives_ "Crew of ship _Dauphin_: Algerine Sequins Richard O'Brien, captain, ransom demanded 2,000 Andrew Montgomery, mate 1,500 Jacob Tessanoir, French passenger 2,000 Wm. Paterson, seaman 1,500 Philip Sloan 725 Peleg Lorin 725 John Robertson 725 James Hall 725" "Crew of the Schooner _Marie_: Algerine Sequins