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A . \ HIMCIKUMMM. Extract* from "Leila, or the meg* of Onmaim.* BY TUB ADTBOK OB "nXJUM," "fOttKt AIAB,* ft*. TlIE CONFLAGRATION. | It w?i the ere of i grtit lad fenml t twiull upon Grenada, deliberately plantied by tpe chiefs of the Christian army. The Spaanish camp', '(the roost gorgeous Christendom had ever, known) gradually grew calm god hushed* The shades deepened, the stars burned forth more serene end clear. Bright in that axure air streamed the silken tents of. the court, blasoned with heraldic devices, bad crowned with gaudy banners, which, filled by a brisk and murmuring wind from the mountains, si ._.i :i.. .1? ?i,J- * ? UUIKIIDII guiljf VII inv gnueu staves. in the centre of the caittp rose the pavilion of the queen; a palace in itself. Lancet made its columns; brocade and painted arras its waits; and the space covered by - its numerous compartments would have contained the halls and outworks of an ordinary castle. The pomp of -that camp realized the Wildest dreams of Gothic, coupled with Oriental splendor; some thing worthy of a Tasso to have imagined or a Beckford to create. Nor was the exceeding Costliness of the more courtly tents lessened in effect by those of the soldiery in the outskirts, many of which -were built .'from boughs still retaining their leaves, savage and picturesqae huts; as if, realizing old legends, wild men of ? the woods had taken up the cross, and r.n 1 a* ? - I iujiuwcu mo vurisusn warriors againsi the swarthy followers of Termagaunt and 1 Maymoud. There, then, extended that 1 mighty camp in profound repose, as the 1 midnight threw deeper and longer shadows 1 over the sward from the tented avenues 1 .and canvass streets. It was at that mo- ' ment that Isabel, in the most private re- ' cess of her pavilion, was employed in 1 prayer for the safety of the king and the { issue of the Sacred War. Kneeling be- * 'fore the altar of that warlike oratory, her 1 spirit became rapt ond absorbed from 1 earth in the intensity of her devotions; 1 and in the whole camp (save the sentries) ' the eses of that pious queen were, per- ' haps the only ones unclosed. All was 1 profoundly still; her guards, her attend- ' ants, were gone to rest; and the tread of ! the sentinel without that immense pavil- 1 ion Was not heard through the silken * walls. * 1 It was then that Isabel suddenly felt a strong grasp upon her shoulder as she 1 jstill knelt by the alter: A faint shriek burst from her lips; she turned, and the broad curved knife of an eastern warrior nlpa mnil nlnon kafn.a Ii?* C ??? "Hushi utter a cry, breathe but more loudly than thy wont, and, queen though thou art, in the centre of swarming thousands, thou diest!" Such were the words that reached the ear of the royal Caslilian, whispered by a -man of stern ancj commanding, though bastard aspect. ""What is thy purpose? wouldst though murder me?" said the queen, trembling, perhaps .for, the first time, before a mortal presence. I "Fear not; thy life is safe if thou stri- i veth not to elude or to deceive me, Our time is short?answer me. I am Almamcn the Hebrew. Where is* the hostage rendered to thy hands? I claim my child. She is with thee?I know it. In what corner of thy camp?" -xvutie stranger." said Isabel, recovering somewhat fromher alarm, "thy daughter is removed, I trust, f<?r ever from thy impious reach. She is not within the earn p." ^ "Lie not, Queen of Casrile," *lSra Almamen, raising his knife; "for days and weeks have I tracked thy steps, followed thy march, haunted even thy slambcrs, though men of mail stood as guards around them; and I know that my daughter has been with thee. Think not I brave this danger without resolves the most fierce and dread! Answer me! where is my child?" "Many days since," said Isabel, awed, despite herself, by her strange position; "thy daughter left the camp for the house of God. It was her own desire. The Saviour hath received her into his fold.*' Had a thousand lances pierced his heart the vigor and - energy of life could scarce more suddenly have deserted Alma, men. The rigid muscles of his * counte nance relaxed at once from resolve and menace into unutterable horror, anguish and despair. lie recoiled several steps; his kneei trembled violently; he seemed stunned by a death-blow. Isabel, the boldest and haughtiest of her sex, seized that moment of reprieve; she sprung forward, darted through the draperies into the apartments occupied by her train, and in-a moment the pavilion resounded with her cries for aid. The sentinels were aroused; retainers sprang from their pillows; they heard the cause of the alarm; they made to the spot; when ere they reached its partition of silk, a vivid and startling blaze burst forth upon ^them.-?The tent was on fire. The materials fed the flames like magic. Some of the guards had yet the courage to dash forward; but the smoke and the glare drove them back blinded and dizzy. Isabel herself had scarcely time for escape, so rapid was the conflagration. Alarmed for her husband, she rushed to bis tent, to find him alicady awakened by the noise, and issuing from its entrance; his drawn sword in his hand. The wind, which had for a few minutes before but curled the triumphant banners, now circulated the destroying Jl spread from tent to teptajmofi ^ 4 * ' . \ *"* ' ^ - i ? u ft dash Of lightning that efc$ote along 1 close-ueighboriftf clouds. The eamp wee 1 in one blese ere toy men could even t dream of shocking the conflagration. I Not waiting to beer the eoufased tale i of hie royal consort, Ferdinand, excMflfe | ins, "The Moore hare done thia; 3sUry I will be on usP* ordered the drama to beat i and the trumpets to sound, and hastened i in person, wrapped merely in bis long i mantle, to alarm his chiefs. While that < well-disciplined and veteran army, fearing I every moment the rally of the foe, endea- I vored rapidly to form themselves into some kind of order, the flame continued i to spread till the whole heavens present- i - ? . .1 .L- J-.- ? -? .M.I .1... 1 "'i nn illumination, mo i?wiw? ??? ?a?- sling splendor of which even a Dante t might be unable to describe. By its light 4 cuirass and helmet glowed as in a furnace i and the armed men seemed rather like ? lifelike and lurid, meteors than human < forma. The city of Grenada was brought c near to them by the intensity of the glow; i and as a detachment of cavalry spurred i from the camp to meet the anticipated surprise of the Paynims, they saw, upon 1 the walls and roofs of Grenada, the Mo- t slems clustering and the spears gleaming f But* equally amazed with the Christians, s and equally suspicious of craft and design s the Moors did not issue from tbeir gates- v Meanwhile tqe conflagration, as rapid to p die as to begin, grew fitful and feeble; and t! the night seemed to fall with a melancho- d ly darkness over the rnin of that silken tl city. - Ferdinand summoned his council. He e bad now perceived it was no embush of tl the Moors. The account of Isabel, which si Bit last he comprehended; the strange and it ilmost miraculous manner in which Al- vv mamen had baffled his guards and penetra- b ted to the royal tent, might have aroused ^is Gothic supnrstition, while it relieved it iis more earthly apprehensions, if he had b lot remembered the singular but far more, d supernatural dexterity with which eastern p varriors, and even Tobbers, continued, o hen as now, to elude the most vigilant ri precautions and baffle the most wakeful b guards; and it was evident that the fire tl vhich burned the camp of an army had a >een kindled merely to gratify the rerenge or.favor the escape of an individu- r il. Shaking, therefore, from his kingly v spirit the thrill of superstitious awe that t the greatness of the disaster, when nsso- u ciated with the name of sorcerer, at first occasioned, he resolved to make advan- i tage out of misfortune itself. The ex- c citement, the wrath of the troops produ- e ced the temper most fit for action. I "And God.*' said the King of Spain to | his knights and chiefs as they assem- 4 bled around him, "has, in this conflagra tion, announced to the warriors of (he ( cross that henceforth their camp shall be | the palaces of Grcuuda! Wo to the Mos ^ lem with to-morrow's sun!" t Arms changed and swords leaped from J their sheaths as the Christian knights j echoed the anatlienia?"Wo to tiiejfc MOiLEM.' ' ' v THE BATTLE. |t The day slowly dawned upon that awful night; and the Moors, still upon the tl battlements of Grenada, beheld the whole army of Ferdinand on its march towards their walls. At a distance lay the wrecks q of the blackened and smouldering camp; ri while before them gaudy and glittering i pennants waving and trumpets sounding, came the exultant legions of the foe.? ( The Moors could scarcely believe their j senses. Fondly anticipating the retreat j of the Christians after so signal a disaster, j the gay and dazzing spectacle of their march to the assault filled them with con- < olawnalinn ami nliwm I o?va nonuii aiiu aiann* | While yet wondering and inactive., the ] trumpet of Boabdii was heard behind; and they beheld the Moorish king, at the head of his guards, emerging down4he avenues that led|to the gate. The sight restored and exhilarated the gazers, and when Boabdii halted in the space before the portals, the shout of twenty thousand warriors rolled ominously to the ears of the advancing Christians. " Men of Grenada!" said Boabdii, as soon as the deep and breathless silence had succeeded to that rnMtial acclamation, 14 the advance of - the dbm y is to their , -destruction! In the fire of last night the hand of Allah wrote their doom. Let us forth, each and all! We will leave our homes unguarded; our heaits shall be their wall! True, that our numbers are thinned by famine and by slaughter, but enough of us are yet left for the redemption of Grenada. Nor are the dead departed from us; the dead fight with us, their souls animate our own! lie who has lost a brother become twice a man. On this battle we will set all. Liberty or chains! empire or exile! victory or death! Forward!" He spoke, and gave the rein to his barb. It bounded forward* and cleared the gloomy arch of the portals, and Boabdil el Chico was the first Moor who issued from Grenada to that last and eventful field. Out then poured, as a river thai rushes from caverns into day, the burnished and serried hies of the Moorish cavalry.? Muza came the last* elosing the array. Upon (wis dark and stern countenance iliA.A annb a l.nt ?I.m l-*~. . I ! M>?IC R|fvnc iiu? tiiu anient IMIIIIUSIUSIII OI | the sanguine king. It was locked and | rigid; and the anxieties of the last dismal , weeks had thinned his cheeks and plough- ( ed deep lines around the firm lips and j iron jaiv which bespoke the obstinate and ( unconquerable resolution of his character. t As Muza now spurred forward, and, t riding along the wheeling ranks, mar- I shalled them in order, arose the acclama- ] tion of /cupalf roices; and thf warriors, 1 a whc looked Wii ill atoQaJ. sew that ihtir vobmb, their wires end (laughter* their mothers mad their belored^rekaeed from their seclusion by a policy, which beipoke the desperation of the cause,) were gazingat* them with outstretched arms from the battlements'end lowers. The Moors felt that they'were now to fight for their hearths anil altars in the presence of those who, if they failed, became si a res and harlots; and each Moslem felt hie heart harden like the steel of hi* own satire. While the cavalry formed themselves into regular squadrons, and the tramp of the foemen came more near and near, the Moorish infantry, in miscellaneous, eager j ind undisciplined bands, poured out, un-j fil, spreading wide and deep below the' trails, BoabniPs charger was seen rapidly; :areering among them, as, io short but,1 " "* * 1! ': ? - < ?? * rlinmiinn. b? ! llStMCV UirevuuiiB UI *?*- / -J ? -" j >ought at once to regulate their move* nents and confirm their hot but capricious ralor. Meanwhile the Christians had abruptly lalted; and the politic Ferdinand resolved, lot to incur the full brunt of a whole po-j mlation in the first flush of their enthu- j iasm and despair. He summoned to his ide Hermando del Pulgar, and bade him,! vith a troop of the most adventurous and' iractised horsemen, advanced towards he Moorish cavalry, and endeavor to raw the fiery valor of Muza away from fie main army. Then, splitting up his orcc into several sections, he dismissed ach to different stations; some to storm tie adjuccnt towers, others to 'fire the itrrounding gardens; so that the action light lose the consternation and union hich made at present their most forniida* 1c strength. Thus, while the Mussulmans were wnillg in order for the attack, they suddenly eheld the main body of the Christians ispersing; and, while yet in surprise and erplcxcd, they saw the fires breaking ut from their delicious gardens to the ight and left of the walls, and heard the oom of the Christian artillery against he scattered bulwarks that guarded the pproaches of that city. At that momenta cloud of duel rolled apidly towards the post occupied in the an by Muza; and the shock of thc"Chrisian knights, in mighty mail, hrokc ipon the centre of the prince's squadron. Higher by several inches than the p!u\ uage of his companions, ua?red the crest ?l" the gigantic Del Pulgar; and a< Mo r ificr Moor went down before his headlong ance, his voice, sounding deep unit sr>ulchral through his visor, shouted out, *.Dcath to the .infidel!" The r?pi?l and dexterous horsetnm of jrrenada were not, however, discomfited >y this fierce assault: opening their r^nks vith cxtraordiiiury celerity, they suffered he charge to pass, comparatively harmess, through their centre; und then, closng in one long bristling line, cut off the mights from retreat. The Christians wheeled round and charged again upon heir foe. * ff W L A??n ,>f tlvrvn aIi Mnali)m if iwr! ~ T IICIC ?.*! ? nnni| *??if *' wniv ? *4"^. hat woyldst play the lion? Where art thou, /luza Ben Abil G. zau?" ' Before thee, Christian!'1 cried a stern ind clear vioce; and from among the helncts of his people gleamed the dazzling urban of the Moor. Hernando checked his steed, gazed a nonr>ent at his foe, turned back for greater mpetus to his < haige, and, in a moment nore, the bravest warriors of the two trmies met lance to lance. The round shield of Muza received the Christian's weapon; his own spear shivered harmless upon the breast of the giant ? He drew his sword, whirled it rapidly aver his head, and for some minutes the eyes of the bystanders could scarcely mark the marvellous rapidity with which strokes were given and parried ly those redoubled swordsmen. ? At length Hcrna ido< anxious to bring Lo bear his superior strength, spurred close to Muza; and leaving his sword pendant by a thong to his wrist, seized the shield of Muza in his formidable grasp, and plucked it away with a force that the Moor vainly endeavored to resist; Muza, therefore, suddenly released his hold; and, ere the Spaniard recovered his balance, [which was lost by the success of his own strength, put forth io the utmost,) he dashed upon him the hoofs of his black charger, and, with a short but heavy mace which he caught up from the saddle bow, dealt Hernando so thundering a blow upon the helmet that the giant.fell to the ground stunned and senseless. To dismount, to vepossess himself of liis shield, to resume hh sabre, to put one knee to the breast of his fallen foe, was the work of a moment; and then had Don Hernando del Pulgar been sped, without priest or surgeon, but'that, alarmed by the peril of their most valiant comrade, twenty knights spurred at once to the rescue, and the points of twenty lances ke pt the Lion of Grenada from his prey. Tlii [her with similar speed rushed the Moorish champions; and the fight became dose ind deadly round the body of the still tinconscious Christian. Not an instant of leisure to unlace the helmet of Hernando, iy removing which alone the Moorish iolade could find a mortal place, was permitted to Mtiza; and, what with the spears ind trampling hoofs around him, the siuation of the Paynim was more dangerous than that of the Christian. Meanwhile Hernando recovered his dizy senses; tnd, made aware of his state, watched lis occasion, and suddenly shook o(T the <nee of the Moor. With another effort W waf 0(1 hi* jfeot; *n<l two ohan?f>tous I ctoo4 eoD^f>otb|4i?b oilier, neither very ' eager to renew the eombei. Bet on foot. Muse, diriogtid resh m he was.^eould not Hbt recognise his disadvantage against | the enormoue strength and impenetrable armor of the Christian* 'he drew ?, j whistled to his barb, that, pieroiuglhe 1 ranks of the horsemen, was by his side : on the instant, mounted* and ,waa in the i midst of the foe almost ere the slower "Spaniard was conscious of his appearance. 1 But Hernando was not delivered froml1 j his enemy. Clearing a space around him ! as three knights, mortally wounded, fell < 'beneath his sabre. Muzs now drew from < behind his shoulder his short Arabian bow; ( and shaft after shaft came rattling1 upon the mail of the dismounted Christian with i so marvellous a celerity, that, encum- < bered as he was with his heavy accoutrements. he was uhable either to escape from the spot or .ward off that arrowyraia; and felt that nothing but chance or our Lady could prevent the death which one such arrow would occasion if it should < find the opening'of the visor or the joiuts of the hauberk. "Mother of mercy!" groaned the knight, perplexed and enraged, "let not thy servant be shot down like a hart by this cowardly warfare; but if I must fall, be.it with mine enemy, grappling hand to hand." While yet muttering this short invocation, the war-cry of Spain was heard hard by, and (he gallant company of Villena was seen scouring across the plain to the | succor of their comrades. The deadly 'attention of Muza was distracted from individual foes, however eminent; he wheeled round,'recollected his men, and, in a serried charge, met the new enemy in midway. While the contest thus fared in that part of the held, the scheme of Ferdinand had succeeded so far as to break up the battle into detached sections. Far and near, plain, grove, garden, tower, presented each .the scene of obstinate and determined conflict, .fioabdil, at the head of his chosen guard, the flower of the haughtier tribe of nobles, who were jealous of the fame and blood of the tribe of Muza, and followed olso by his gigantic Ethiopians, exposed his person to every peril, with the desperate valor of a man who feels his own stake is greatest in the field. As he most distrusted the infantry, so among the infantry he chiefly bestowed hi* presence; and, wherever he appeared, he sufficed for a moment to turn the chances < of the engagement. At length, at mid- i (lay, Pur.ce dc Leon led against the largest detachment of the Moorish foot a stroug ( and numerous battalion of the best disci- ; plined and veteran soldiery of Spain.? j Lie had succeeded in winning a fortress t from which his artillery could play with I e fleet; and the troops be led was composed 1 partly of men flushed with recent triumph, and ? partly of a fresh reserve now first brought into the field. A comely and a i breathless spectacle it was to behold this < Christian squadron emerging from a bla- I zing corpse which they fired on their march; the red light gleaming on their complete armor as, in steady and solemn order, they swept on to the swaying and olamorous ranks of the Moorish infantry. Boabdil learned the-danger from his scouts; and hastily leaving a tower from which! he had for a while repulsed a hostile legion, he threw himself into the midst of the battulions menaced by the skilful Ponce de Leon. Almost at the same-moment the wild and ominous apparition of Almamen. lnnu nlmpnt frr?m (Via pvpg nf the Moors, appeared in the same quarter so suddenly and unexpectedly that none knew whence l>e had emerged; the 6acred standard in his left hand; his sabre, bared and dripping gore, in his right; his face exposed, and his powerful features working with an excitement that seemed inspired: his abrupt presence breathed a new soul into the Moors. "They come! they come!" he shrieked aloud. "The God of the East hath delivered the Goth into your hands!" From rank to rank, from line to line, sped the santon; and as the mystic banner: gleamed before the soldiery, each closed his eyes and muttered an amen to his adjurations. And now, to the cry of Spain and St. Iago, came trampling down the relentless charge of the Christian war. At the same instant, from the fortress lately token by Poncc de Leon,-the artillery opened upon the Moors, and did deadly havoc. The Moslems wavered a moment, wher^before them gleamed the while banner of Almamen, and they beheld him rushing alone and on foot amid the foe. Taught to be' lirve the war itself depended on the preservation of the enchanted banner, the Paynims could not see it thus rashly adventured without anxiety and shame: they rallied, advanced firmly, and Boabdil himself, with waving scimitar and fierce exclamations, dashed impetuously at the head of his guirds and Ethiopians into the affray. The battle became obstinate and bloody. Thrice the white banner dis- i appeared amid the closing ranks; and i thrice, like the nioon from the clouds, it I shone forth again, (he light and guidc'of ] the Pagan power. I The day ripened, and the hills already I rnut lpn(Tthn?i!.i~ ?U- - Buouuwg over inc mazing i groves and the still Darro, whose waters, r, in every crctk where the tide was arrcs- t ted, ran red with hlood, when Ferdinand, < collecting his whole reserve, descended I from the eminence on which he had posted i himself. With him moved three thousand < foot and a thousand horse, fresh in (their 1 vigor and panting for a share in the glo- t nous day. The king himself, who though I constitutionally fearless, froth motives of I i * ? jjL potter f?wl/ p*ril?d' & P??m ?? Vn , Huoiioenl oCjpiiioui, wiflUwl hot to , be outdoh? by JBoebdllf and. ormed c*p*a pie in mail, so wrought with gold Ui^it seemed nearly ""alt or thai costly metal, with hU snutr-VhfTe plumage waring hovi mill diadem thai surmounted hi* lofty Mm. he warned a fit leader ib that umament of heroes. Behind him fiepnled the great gonfalen ot Spaln.and trump and cymbal heralded Ids approach. The Count de Tendilla rode by his side. "Senor," said Ferdinand, "The infidels fight hard; but they are in a snare; we are about to close the nets upon them. 4 But what cavalcade is this?*' The group that thus drew the king's attention consisted of six squires, bearing on a martial litteiv composed of shields, the stalwart form of Hernando del Pulgar. "Ah, the dogs!*' cried the king, as he recognized the pale features of the darling of the army; "have they murdered the bravest knight that ever fought for Christendom?'* " Not that, your majesty," quoth he of the exploits, faintly, " but I am sorely stricken." " It must have been more than man who struck thee down," said the king. "It was the mace of Muza Ben Abil Gazan, an please you, sire," said one of the squires; " but it came on the good knight unwares, and long after his own arm had seemingly driven away the pagan." ' We will avenge thee well,*' said the king, setting his teeth:. " let our leeches tend thy wounds. Forward, sir knights! St. Iago and Spain!" The battle had now gathered to a vortex: Muza and his cavalry had joined Boabdil and the Moorish foot. On the other hand, Villena had been reinforced by detachments thai in almost every other quarter of the field, had routed the foe. The Moors had been driven back, though inch by inch; they were now in the broad space before the very walls of the city, which were still crowded with the pale and anxious faces of the aged and the women, and at erery pause in the artillery voices that spoke of home were borne by that lurid nir to the cars of tlve iniidels. The shout that ran through the Christian force, as Ferdinand now joined it, struck like a dcalh-kncli upon ithe last hope of Bonbdil. But the blood of his fierce ancestry burned in his veins, and the cheer ing voice of Almamcn, whom nothing Jaunted, inspired him with a kind of superstitious phrenzy. King again king?so be it! let AUuh decide between us," cried the Moo:ish monirch. 41 Bind up this wound?*tis well! \ steed for the santon! Now, my prophet iiul my friend, .mount by the side of thy king?let us, at least, fall together. Lelilics lclilies!" Throughout the brave Christian nanks went a thrill of reluctant admiration rs Lhcy beheld the Paynim King, conspicuous by his fair beard and the jewels of his harness, lead the scanty guard yet left to him once more into the thickest of their lines. Simultaneously Muzannd his zcgris made their fiery charge; and the Moorish infantry, excited by the example of their leaders, followed with utislackcn eu ana aoggcd zeal. The Christians gnvc way?they were beaten back: Ferdinand spurred forward, and, ere either parly were well aware of it, both kings -met w? the same mclccm. all order and discipline for the moment lost, general and monarch were, a6 common soldiers, fighting hand to hand. It was then that Ferdinand, after bearing down before his lance Nuim Rcduoti, second only to Muza in the songs of Grenada, beheld opposed to him a strange form, flint seemed to that royal Christian rather fiend than man: his raven hair and beard, clotted with blood, hung like snakes about a countenance whose features, naturally formed to give expression to the darkest'passions, were distorted with the madness of despairing rage. Wounded in many places, the blood dabbled his m^il; while over his head he wa veil the banner wrought with mystic characters, which Ferdinand had already been taught to believe the workmanship of demons* "Now, pen-juried king of the Nazarenes!" shouted this formidable champion "we meet at last!?no longer, host and guest, monarch and dervis, but man to man! I am Almamcn! Die!" He spoke, and his sword descended so fiercely on that anointed head, that Ferdinand bent to his saddle-bow. But the king quickly recovered his seat and gallantly met the encounter; it was one that might have tasked to the utmost the prowess of his bravest knight. Passions which, in their number, their nature, and their excess, animated no other champion on either side, gave to the arm of Almamcn the Isabelite a preternatural strength; his blows fell like rain upon the harness of the king; and the fiery eyes, the gleaming banner of the mysterious sorcerer, who had eluded the tortures of his iuqujsition; who had walked unscathed through the midst of his army; whose singlo hand had consumed the cncnmpmcnl of a host, filled the stout heart of the king with a belief that he encountered no earthly foe* Fortunately, perhaps, for Ferdinand and Spain, the contest did not last long.? Twenty horsemen spurred into the mclca o the rescue ot the plumed diadem: Ten lilla arrived the first; with a stroke of lis twndianded sword tho wliite banner vas cleft from its staiT, and fell to tho ;artl?. At that sight tho Moors arouiul * >r??ko forih in a wild and despairing cry; lint cry spread from rank to rank* from ior?c to foot; tho Moorish infantry* sore-. \ pressed on u41 sides, no sooner U*srjic<J