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