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+Project Gutenberg EBook, Leila by Edward Bulwer Lytton, Volume 2
+#197 in our series by Edward Bulwer Lytton
+
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+Title: Leila or, The Siege of Granada, Book II.
+
+Author: Edward Bulwer Lytton
+
+Release Date: January 2006  [EBook #9757]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on October 9, 2003]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, LEILA, BY LYTTON, V2 ***
+
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+
+
+                             LEILA
+
+                              OR,
+
+                     THE SIEGE OF GRANADA
+
+                              BY
+
+                     EDWARD BULWER LYTTON
+
+
+                            Book II.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE ROYAL TENT OF SPAIN.--THE KING AND THE DOMINICAN--THE VISITOR
+AND THE HOSTAGE.
+
+Our narrative now summons us to the Christian army, and to the tent in
+which the Spanish king held nocturnal counsel with some of his more
+confidential warriors and advisers.  Ferdinand had taken the field with
+all the pomp and circumstance of a tournament rather than of a campaign;
+and his pavilion literally blazed with purple and cloth of gold.
+
+The king sat at the head of a table on which were scattered maps and
+papers; nor in countenance and mien did that great and politic monarch
+seem unworthy of the brilliant chivalry by which he was surrounded.  His
+black hair, richly perfumed and anointed, fell in long locks on either
+side of a high imperial brow, upon whose calm, though not unfurrowed
+surface, the physiognomist would in vain have sought to read the
+inscrutable heart of kings.  His features were regular and majestic: and
+his mantle, clasped with a single jewel of rare price and lustre, and
+wrought at the breast with a silver cross, waved over a vigorous and
+manly frame, which derived from the composed and tranquil dignity of
+habitual command that imposing effect which many of the renowned knights
+and heroes in his presence took from loftier stature and ampler
+proportions.  At his right hand sat Prince Juan, his son, in the first
+bloom of youth; at his left, the celebrated Rodrigo Ponce de Leon,
+Marquess of Cadiz; along the table, in the order of their military rank,
+were seen the splendid Duke of Medina Sidonia, equally noble in aspect
+and in name; the worn and thoughtful countenance of the Marquess de
+Villena (the Bayard of Spain); the melancholy brow of the heroic Alonzo
+de Aguilar; and the gigantic frame, the animated features, and sparkling
+eyes, of that fiery Hernando del Pulgar, surnamed "the knight of the
+exploits."
+
+"You see, senores," said the king, continuing an address, to which his
+chiefs seemed to listen with reverential attention, "our best hope of
+speedily gaining the city is rather in the dissensions of the Moors than
+our own sacred arms.  The walls are strong, the population still
+numerous; and under Muza Ben Abil Gazan, the tactics of the hostile army
+are, it must be owned, administered with such skill as to threaten very
+formidable delays to the period of our conquest.  Avoiding the hazard of
+a fixed battle, the infidel cavalry harass our camp by perpetual
+skirmishes; and in the mountain defiles our detachments cannot cope with
+their light horse and treacherous ambuscades.  It is true, that by dint
+of time, by the complete devastation of the Vega, and by vigilant
+prevention of convoys from the seatowns, we might starve the city into
+yielding.  But, alas! my lords, our enemies are scattered and numerous,
+and Granada is not the only place before which the standard of Spain
+should be unfurled.  Thus situated, the lion does not disdain to serve
+himself of the fox; and, fortunately, we have now in Granada an ally that
+fights for us.  I have actual knowledge of all that passes within the
+Alhambra: the king yet remains in his palace, irresolute and dreaming;
+and I trust that an intrigue by which his jealousies are aroused against
+his general, Muza, may end either in the loss of that able leader, or in
+the commotion of open rebellion or civil war.  Treason within Granada
+will open its gates to us."
+
+"Sire," said Ponce de Leon, after a pause, "under your counsels, I no
+more doubt of seeing our banner float above the Vermilion Towers, than I
+doubt the rising of the sun over yonder hills; it matters little whether
+we win by stratagem or force.  But I need not say to your highness, that
+we should carefully beware lest we be amused by inventions of the enemy,
+and trust to conspiracies which may be but lying tales to blunt our
+sabres, and paralyse our action."
+
+"Bravely spoken, wise de Leon!" exclaimed Hernando del Pulgar, hotly:
+"and against these infidels, aided by the cunning of the Evil One,
+methinks our best wisdom lies in the sword-arm.  Well says our old
+Castilian proverb:
+
+                    'Curse them devoutly,
+                    Hammer them stoutly.'"
+
+The king smiled slightly at the ardour of the favourite of his army, but
+looked round for more deliberate counsel.  "Sire," said Villena, "far be
+it from us to inquire the grounds upon which your majesty builds your
+hope of dissension among the foe; but, placing the most sanguine
+confidence in a wisdom never to be deceived, it is clear that we should
+relax no energy within our means, but fight while we plot, and seek to
+conquer, while we do not neglect to undermine."
+
+"You speak well, my Lord," said Ferdinand, thoughtfully; "and you
+yourself shall head a strong detachment to-morrow, to lay waste the Vega.
+Seek me two hours hence; the council for the present is dissolved."
+
+The knights rose, and withdrew with the usual grave and stately
+ceremonies of respect, which Ferdinand observed to, and exacted from, his
+court: the young prince remained.
+
+"Son," said Ferdinand, when they were alone, "early and betimes should
+the Infants of Spain be lessoned in the science of kingcraft.  These
+nobles are among the brightest jewels of the crown; but still it is in
+the crown, and for the crown, that their light should sparkle.  Thou
+seest how hot, and fierce, and warlike, are the chiefs of Spain--
+excellent virtues when manifested against our foes: but had we no foes,
+Juan, such virtues might cause us exceeding trouble.  By St. Jago, I have
+founded a mighty monarchy! observe how it should be maintained--by
+science, Juan, by science! and science is as far removed from brute force
+as this sword from a crowbar.  Thou seemest bewildered and amazed, my
+son: thou hast heard that I seek to conquer Granada by dissensions among
+the Moors; when Granada is conquered, remember that the nobles themselves
+are at Granada.  Ave Maria! blessed be the Holy Mother, under whose eyes
+are the hearts of kings!" Ferdinand crossed himself devoutly; and then,
+rising, drew aside a part of the drapery of the pavilion, and called; in
+a low voice, the name of Perez.  A grave Spaniard, somewhat past the
+verge of middle age, appeared.
+
+"Perez," said the king, reseating himself, "has the person we expected
+from Granada yet arrived?"
+
+"Sire, yes; accompanied by a maiden."
+
+"He hath kept his word; admit them.  Ha! holy father, thy visits are
+always as balsam to the heart."
+
+"Save you, my son!" returned a man in the robes of a Dominican friar, who
+had entered suddenly and without ceremony by another part of the tent,
+and who now seated himself with smileless composure at a little distance
+from the king.
+
+There was a dead silence for some moments; and Perez still lingered
+within the tent, as if in doubt whether the entrance of the friar would
+not prevent or delay obedience to the king's command.  On the calm face
+of Ferdinand himself appeared a slight shade of discomposure and
+irresolution, when the monk thus resumed:
+
+"My presence, my son, will not, I trust, disturb your conference with the
+infidel--since you deem that worldly policy demands your parley with the
+men of Belial."
+
+"Doubtless not--doubtless not," returned the king, quickly: then,
+muttering to himself, "how wondrously doth this holy man penetrate into
+all our movements and designs!" he added, aloud, "Let the messenger
+enter."
+
+Perez bowed, and withdrew.
+
+During this time, the young prince reclined in listless silence on his
+seat; and on his delicate features was an expression of weariness which
+augured but ill of his fitness for the stern business to which the
+lessons of his wise father were intended to educate his mind.  His,
+indeed, was the age, and his the soul, for pleasure; the tumult of the
+camp was to him but a holiday exhibition--the march of an army, the
+exhilaration of a spectacle; the court as a banquet--the throne, the best
+seat at the entertainment.  The life of the heir-apparent, to the life of
+the king possessive, is as the distinction between enchanting hope and
+tiresome satiety.
+
+The small grey eyes of the friar wandered over each of his royal
+companions with a keen and penetrating glance, and then settled in the
+aspect of humility on the rich carpets that bespread the floor; nor did
+he again lift them till Perez, reappearing, admitted to the tent the
+Israelite, Almamen, accompanied by a female figure, whose long veil,
+extending from head to foot, could conceal neither the beautiful
+proportions nor the trembling agitation, of her frame.
+
+"When last, great king, I was admitted to thy presence," said Almamen,
+"thou didst make question of the sincerity and faith of thy servant; thou
+didst ask me for a surety of my faith; thou didst demand a hostage; and
+didst refuse further parley without such pledge were yielded to thee.
+Lo! I place under thy kingly care this maiden--the sole child of my
+house--as surety of my truth; I intrust to thee a life dearer than my
+own."
+
+"You have kept faith with us, stranger," said the king, in that soft and
+musical voice which well disguised his deep craft and his unrelenting
+will; "and the maiden whom you intrust to our charge shall be ranked with
+the ladies of our royal consort."
+
+"Sire," replied Almamen, with touching earnestness, you now hold the
+power of life and death over all for whom this heart can breathe a prayer
+or cherish a hope, save for my countrymen and my religion.  This solemn
+pledge between thee and me I render up without scruple, without fear.  To
+thee I give a hostage, from thee I have but a promise."
+
+"But it is the promise of a king, a Christian, and a knight," said the
+king, with dignity rather mild than arrogant; "among monarchs, what
+hostage can be more sacred?  Let this pass: how proceed affairs in the
+rebel city?"
+
+"May this maiden withdraw, ere I answer my lord the king?" said Almamen.
+
+The young prince started to his feet.  "Shall I conduct this new charge
+to my mother?" he asked, in a low voice, addressing Ferdinand.
+
+The king half smiled: "The holy father were a better guide," he returned,
+in the same tone.  But, though the Dominican heard the hint, he retained
+his motionless posture; and Ferdinand, after a momentary gaze on the
+friar, turned away.  "Be it so, Juan," said he, with a look meant to
+convey caution to the prince; "Perez shall accompany you to the queen:
+return the moment your mission is fulfilled--we want your presence."
+
+While this conversation was carried on between the father and son, the
+Hebrew was whispering, in his sacred tongue, words of comfort and
+remonstrance to the maiden; but they appeared to have but little of the
+desired effect; and, suddenly falling on his breast, she wound her arms
+around the Hebrew, whose breast shook with strong emotions, and exclaimed
+passionately, in the same language, "Oh, my father!  what have I done?--
+why send me from thee?--why intrust thy child to the stranger?  Spare me,
+spare me!"
+
+"Child of my heart!" returned the Hebrew, with solemn but tender accents,
+"even as Abraham offered up his son, must I offer thee, upon the altars
+of our faith; but, O Leila!  even as the angel of the Lord forbade the
+offering, so shall thy youth be spared, and thy years reserved for the
+glory of generations yet unborn.  King of Spain!" he continued in the
+Spanish tongue, suddenly and eagerly, "you are a father, forgive my
+weakness, and speed this parting."
+
+Juan approached; and with respectful courtesy attempted to take the hand
+of the maiden.
+
+"You?" said the Israelite, with a dark frown.  "O king! the prince is
+young."
+
+"Honour knoweth no distinction of age," answered the king.  "What ho,
+Perez! accompany this maiden and the prince to the queen's pavilion."
+
+The sight of the sober years and grave countenance of the attendant
+seemed to re-assure the Hebrew.  He strained Leila in his arms; printed a
+kiss upon her forehead without removing her veil; and then, placing her
+almost in the arms of Perez, turned away to the further end of the tent,
+and concealed his face with his hands.  The king appeared touched; but
+the Dominican gazed upon the whole scene with a sour scowl.
+
+Leila still paused for a moment; and then, as if recovering her self-
+possession, said, aloud and distinctly,--"Man deserts me; but I will not
+forget that God is over all."  Shaking off the hand of the Spaniard, she
+continued, "Lead on; I follow thee!" and left the tent with a steady and
+even majestic step.
+
+"And now," said the king, when alone with the Dominican and Almamen, "how
+proceed our hopes?"
+
+"Boabdil," replied the Israelite, "is aroused against both his army and
+their leader, Muza; the king will not quit the Alhambra; and this
+morning, ere I left the city, Muza himself was in the prisons of the
+palace."
+
+"How!" cried the king, starting from his seat.
+
+"This is my work," pursued the Hebrew.  coldly.  "It is these hands that
+are shaping for Ferdinand of Spain the keys of Granada."
+
+"And right kingly shall be your guerdon," said the Spanish monarch:
+"meanwhile, accept this earnest of our favour."  So saying, he took from
+his breast a chain of massive gold, the links of which were curiously
+inwrought with gems, and extended it to the Israelite.  Almamen moved
+not.  A dark flush upon his countenance bespoke the feelings he with
+difficulty restrained.
+
+"I sell not my foes for gold, great king," said he, with a stern smile:
+"I sell my foes to buy the ransom of my friends."
+
+"Churlish!" said Ferdinand, offended: "but speak on, man, speak on!"
+
+"If I place Granada, ere two weeks are past, within thy power, what shall
+be my reward?"
+
+"Thou didst talk to me, when last we met, of immunities to the Jews."
+
+The calm Dominican looked up as the king spoke, crossed himself, and
+resumed his attitude of humility.
+
+"I demand for the people of Israel," returned Almamen, "free leave to
+trade and abide within the city, and follow their callings, subjected
+only to the same laws and the same imposts as the Christian population."
+
+"The same laws, and the same imposts!  Humph! there are difficulties in
+the concession.  If we refuse?"
+
+"Our treaty is ended.  Give me back the maiden--you will have no further
+need of the hostage you demanded: I return to the city, and renew our
+interviews no more."
+
+Politic and cold-blooded as was the temperament of the great Ferdinand,
+he had yet the imperious and haughty nature of a prosperous and long-
+descended king; and he bit his lip in deep displeasure at the tone of the
+dictatorial and stately stranger.
+
+"Thou usest plain language, my friend," said he; "my words can be as
+rudely spoken.  Thou art in my power, and canst return not, save at my
+permission."
+
+"I have your royal word, sire, for free entrance and safe egress,"
+answered Almamen.  "Break it, and Granada is with the Moors till the
+Darro runs red with the blood of her heroes, and her people strew the
+vales as the leaves in autumn."
+
+"Art thou then thyself of the Jewish faith?" asked the king.  "If thou
+art not, wherefore are the outcasts of the world so dear to thee?"
+
+"My fathers were of that creed, royal Ferdinand; and if I myself desert
+their creed, I do not desert their cause.  O king!  are my terms scorned
+or accepted?"
+
+"I accept them: provided, first, that thou obtainest the exile or death
+of Muza; secondly, that within two weeks of this date thou bringest me,
+along with the chief councillors of Granada, the written treaty of the
+capitulation, and the keys of the city.  Do this: and though the sole
+king in Christendom who dares the hazard, I offer to the Israelites
+throughout Andalusia the common laws and rights of citizens of Spain; and
+to thee I will accord such dignity as may content thy ambition."
+
+The Hebrew bowed reverently, and drew from his breast a scroll, which he
+placed on the table before the king.  "This writing, mighty Ferdinand,
+contains the articles of our compact."
+
+"How, knave! wouldst thou have us commit our royal signature to
+conditions with such as thou art, to the chance of the public eye?  The
+king's word is the king's bond!"
+
+The Hebrew took up the scroll with imperturbable composure, "My child!"
+said he; "will your majesty summon back my child?  we would depart."
+
+"A sturdy mendicant this, by the Virgin!" muttered the king; and then,
+speaking aloud, "Give me the paper, I will scan it."
+
+Running his eyes hastily over the words, Ferdinand paused a moment, and
+then drew towards him the implements of writing, signed the scroll, and
+returned it to Almamen.
+
+The Israelite kissed it thrice with oriental veneration, and replaced it
+in his breast.
+
+Ferdinand looked at him hard and curiously.  He was a profound reader of
+men's characters; but that of his guest baffled and perplexed him.
+
+"And how, stranger," said he, gravely,--"how can I trust that man who
+thus distrusts one king and sells another?"
+
+"O king!" replied Almamen (accustomed from his youth to commune with and
+command the possessors of thrones yet more absolute),--"O king! if thou
+believest me actuated by personal and selfish interests in this our
+compact, thou has but to make, my service minister to my interest, and
+the lore of human nature will tell thee that thou hast won a ready and
+submissive slave.  But if thou thinkest I have avowed sentiments less
+abject, and developed qualities higher than those of the mere bargainer
+for sordid power, oughtest thou not to rejoice that chance has thrown
+into thy way one whose intellect and faculties may be made thy tool?  If
+I betray another, that other is my deadly foe.  Dost not thou, the lord
+of armies, betray thine enemy?  The Moor is an enemy bitterer to myself
+than to thee.  Because I betray an enemy, am I unworthy to serve a
+friend?  If I, a single man, and a stranger to the Moor, can yet command
+the secrets of palaces, and render vain the counsels of armed men, have I
+not in that attested that I am one of whom a wise king can make an able
+servant?"
+
+"Thou art a subtle reasoner, my friend," said Ferdinand, smiling gently.
+"Peace go with thee!  our conference for the time is ended.  What ho,
+Perez!"  The attendant appeared.
+
+"Thou hast left the maiden with the queen?"
+
+"Sire, you have been obeyed."
+
+"Conduct this stranger to the guard who led him through the camp.  He
+quits us under the same protection.  Farewell!  yet stay--thou art
+assured that Muza Ben Abil Gazan is in the prisons of the Moor?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Blessed be the Virgin!"
+
+"Thou hast heard our conference, Father Tomas?" said the king, anxiously,
+when the Hebrew had withdrawn.
+
+"I have, son."
+
+"Did thy veins freeze with horror?"
+
+"Only when my son signed the scroll.  It seemed to me then that I saw the
+cloven foot of the tempter."
+
+"Tush, father, the tempter would have been more wise than to reckon upon
+a faith which no ink and no parchment can render valid, if the Church
+absolve the compact.  Thou understandest me, father?"
+
+"I do.  I know your pious heart and well-judging mind."
+
+"Thou wert right," resumed the king, musingly, "when thou didst tell us
+that these caitiff Jews were waxing strong in the fatness of their
+substance.  They would have equal laws--the insolent blasphemers!"
+
+"Son!" said the Dominican, with earnest adjuration, "God, who has
+prospered your arms and councils, will require at your hands an account
+of the power intrusted to you.  Shall there be no difference between His
+friends and His foes--His disciples and His crucifiers?"
+
+"Priest," said the king, laying his hand on the monk's shoulder, and with
+a saturnine smile upon his countenance, "were religion silent in this
+matter, policy has a voice loud enough to make itself heard.  The Jews
+demand equal rights; when men demand equality with their masters, treason
+is at work, and justice sharpens her sword.  Equality! these wealthy
+usurers!  Sacred Virgin! they would be soon buying up our kingdoms."
+
+The Dominican gazed hard on the king.  "Son, I trust thee," he said, in a
+low voice, and glided from the tent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE AMBUSH, THE STRIFE, AND THE CAPTURE.
+
+The dawn was slowly breaking over the wide valley of Granada, as Almamen
+pursued his circuitous and solitary path back to the city.  He was now in
+a dark and entangled hollow, covered with brakes and bushes, from amidst
+which tall forest trees rose in frequent intervals, gloomy and breathless
+in the still morning air.  As, emerging from this jungle, if so it may be
+called, the towers of Granada gleamed upon him, a human countenance
+peered from the shade; and Almamen started to see two dark eyes fixed
+upon his own.
+
+He halted abruptly, and put his hand on his dagger, when a low sharp
+whistle from the apparition before him was answered around--behind; and,
+ere he could draw breath, the Israelite was begirt by a group of Moors,
+in the garb of peasants.
+
+"Well, my masters," said Almamen, calmly, as he encountered the wild
+savage countenances that glared upon him, "think you there is aught to
+fear from the solitary santon?"
+
+"It is the magician," whispered one man to his neighbour--"let him pass."
+
+"Nay," was the answer, "take him before the captain; we have orders to
+seize upon all we meet."
+
+This counsel prevailed; and gnashing his teeth with secret rage, Almamen
+found himself hurried along by the peasants through the thickest part of
+the copse.  At length, the procession stopped in a semicircular patch of
+rank sward, in which several head of cattle were quietly grazing, and a
+yet more numerous troop of peasants reclined around upon the grass.
+
+"Whom have we here?" asked a voice which startled back the dark blood
+from Almamen's cheek; and a Moor of commanding presence rose from the
+midst of his brethren.  "By the beard of the prophet, it is the false
+santon! What dost thou from Granada at this hour?"
+
+"Noble Muza," returned Almamen--who, though indeed amazed that one whom
+he had imagined his victim was thus unaccountably become his judge,
+retained, at least, the semblance of composure--"my answer is to be given
+only to my lord the king; it is his commands that I obey."
+
+"Thou art aware," said Muza, frowning, "that thy life is forfeited
+without appeal?  Whatsoever inmate of Granada is found without the walls
+between sunrise and sunset, dies the death of a traitor and deserter."
+
+"The servants of the Alhambra are excepted," answered the Israelite,
+without changing countenance.
+
+"Ah!" muttered Muza, as a painful and sudden thought seemed to cross him,
+"can it be possible that the rumour of the city has truth, and that the
+monarch of Granada is in treaty with the foe?" He mused a little; and
+then, motioning the Moors to withdraw, he continued aloud, "Almamen,
+answer me truly: hast thou sought the Christian camp with any message
+from the king?"
+
+"I have not."
+
+"Art thou without the walls on the mission of the king?"
+
+"If I be so, I am a traitor to the king should I reveal his secret."
+
+"I doubt thee much, santon," said Muza, after a pause; "I know thee for
+my enemy, and I do believe thy counsels have poisoned the king's ear
+against me, his people and his duties.  But no matter, thy life is spared
+a while; thou remainest with us, and with us shalt thou return to the
+king."
+
+"But, noble Muza----"
+
+"I have said!  Guard the santon; mount him upon one of our chargers; he
+shall abide with us in our ambush."  While Almamen chafed in vain at his
+arrest, all in the Christian camp was yet still.  At length, as the sun
+began to lift himself above the mountains, first a murmur, and then a
+din, betokened warlike preparations.  Several parties of horse, under
+gallant and experienced leaders, formed themselves in different quarters,
+and departed in different ways, on expeditions of forage, or in the hope
+of skirmish with the straggling detachments of the enemy.  Of these, the
+best equipped, was conducted by the Marquess de Villena, and his gallant
+brother Don Alonzo de Pacheco.  In this troop, too, rode many of the best
+blood of Spain; for in that chivalric army, the officers vied with each
+other who should most eclipse the meaner soldiery in feats of personal
+valour; and the name of Villena drew around him the eager and ardent
+spirits that pined at the general inactivity of Ferdinand's politic
+campaign.
+
+The sun, now high in heaven, glittered on the splendid arms and gorgeous
+pennons of Villena's company, as, leaving the camp behind, it entered a
+rich and wooded district that skirts the mountain barrier of the Vega.
+The brilliancy of the day, the beauty of the scene, the hope and
+excitement of enterprise, animated the spirits of the whole party.
+In these expeditions strict discipline was often abandoned, from the
+certainty that it could be resumed at need.  Conversation, gay and loud,
+interspersed at times with snatches of song, was heard amongst the
+soldiery; and in the nobler group that rode with Villena, there was even
+less of the proverbial gravity of Spaniards.
+
+"Now, marquess," said Don Estevon de Suzon, "what wager shall be between
+us as to which lance this day robs Moorish beauty of the greatest number
+of its worshippers?"
+
+"My falchion against your jennet," said Don Alonzo de Pacheco, taking up
+the challenge.
+
+"Agreed.  But, talking of beauty, were you in the queen's pavilion last
+night, noble marquess? it was enriched by a new maiden, whose strange and
+sudden apparition none can account for.  Her eyes would have eclipsed the
+fatal glance of Cava; and had I been Rodrigo, I might have lost a crown
+for her smile."
+
+"Ay," said Villena, "I heard of her beauty; some hostage from one of the
+traitor Moors, with whom the king (the saints bless him!) bargains for
+the city.  They tell me the prince incurred the queen's grave rebuke for
+his attentions to the maiden."
+
+"And this morning I saw that fearful Father Tomas steal into the prince's
+tent.  I wish Don Juan well through the lecture.  The monk's advice is
+like the algarroba;--[The algarroba is a sort of leguminous plant common
+in Spain]--when it is laid up to dry it may be reasonably wholesome, but
+it is harsh and bitter enough when taken fresh."
+
+At this moment one of the subaltern officers rode up to the marquess, and
+whispered in his ear.
+
+"Ha!" said Villena, "the Virgin be praised!  Sir knights, booty is at
+hand.  Silence! close the ranks."  With that, mounting a little eminence,
+and shading his eyes with his hand, the marquess surveyed the plain
+below; and, at some distance, he beheld a horde of Moorish peasants
+driving some cattle into a thick copse.  The word was hastily given, the
+troop dashed on, every voice was hushed, and the clatter of mail, and the
+sound of hoofs, alone broke the delicious silence of the noon-day
+landscape.
+
+Ere they reached the copse, the peasants had disappeared within it.  The
+marquess marshalled his men in a semicircle round the trees, and sent on
+a detachment to the rear, to cut off every egress from the wood.  This
+done the troop dashed within.  For the first few yards the space was more
+open than they had anticipated: but the ground soon grew uneven, rugged,
+and almost precipitous, and the soil, and the interlaced trees, alike
+forbade any rapid motion to the horse.  Don Alonzo de Pacheco, mounted on
+a charger whose agile and docile limbs had been tutored to every
+description of warfare, and himself of light weight and incomparable
+horsemanship--dashed on before the rest.  The trees hid him for a moment;
+when suddenly, a wild yell was heard, and as it ceased uprose the
+solitary voice of the Spaniard, shouting, "_Santiago, y cierra_, Espana;
+St. Jago, and charge, Spain!"
+
+Each cavalier spurred forward; when suddenly, a shower of darts and
+arrows rattled on their armour; and upsprung from bush and reeds, and
+rocky clift, a number of Moors, and with wild shouts swarmed around the
+Spaniards.
+
+"Back for your lives!" cried Villena; "we are beset--make for the level
+ground!"
+
+He turned-spurred from the thicket, and saw the Paynim foe emerging
+through the glen, line after line of man and horse; each Moor leading his
+slight and fiery steed by the bridle, and leaping on it as he issued from
+the wood into the plain.  Cased in complete mail, his visor down, his
+lance in its rest, Villena (accompanied by such of his knights as could
+disentangle themselves from the Moorish foot) charged upon the foe.  A
+moment of fierce shock passed: on the ground lay many a Moor, pierced
+through by the Christian lance; and on the other side of the foe was
+heard the voice of Villena--"St. Jago to the rescue!"  But the brave
+marquess stood almost alone, save his faithful chamberlain, Solier.
+Several of his knights were dismounted, and swarms of Moors, with lifted
+knives, gathered round them as they lay, searching for the joints of the
+armour, which might admit a mortal wound.  Gradually, one by one, many of
+Villena's comrades joined their leader, and now the green mantle of Don
+Alonzo de Pacheco was seen waving without the copse, and Villena
+congratulated himself on the safety of his brother.  Just at that moment,
+a Moorish cavalier spurred from his troop, and met Pacheco in full
+career.  The Moor was not clad, as was the common custom of the Paynim
+nobles, in the heavy Christian armour.  He wore the light flexile mail of
+the ancient heroes of Araby or Fez.  His turban, which was protected by
+chains of the finest steel interwoven with the folds, was of the most
+dazzling white--white, also, were his tunic and short mantle; on his left
+arm hung a short circular shield, in his right hand was poised a long and
+slender lance.  As this Moor, mounted on a charger in whose raven hue not
+a white hair could be detected, dashed forward against Pacheco, both
+Christian and Moor breathed hard, and remained passive.  Either nation
+felt it as a sacrilege to thwart the encounter of champions so renowned.
+
+"God save my brave brother!" muttered Villena, anxiously.  "Amen," said
+those around him; for all who had ever witnessed the wildest valour in
+that war, trembled as they recognised the dazzling robe and coal-black
+charger of Muza Ben Abil Gazan.  Nor was that renowned infidel mated with
+an unworthy foe.  "Pride of the tournament, and terror of the war," was
+the favourite title which the knights and ladies of Castile had bestowed
+on Don Alonzo de Pacheco.
+
+When the Spaniard saw the redoubted Moor approach, he halted abruptly for
+a moment, and then, wheeling his horse around, took a wider circuit, to
+give additional impetus to his charge.  The Moor, aware of his purpose,
+halted also, and awaited the moment of his rush; when once more he darted
+forward, and the combatants met with a skill which called forth a cry of
+involuntary applause from the Christians themselves.  Muza received on
+the small surface of his shield the ponderous spear of Alonzo, while his
+own light lance struck upon the helmet of the Christian, and by the
+exactness of the aim rather than the weight of the blow, made Alonzo reel
+in his saddle.
+
+The lances were thrown aside--the long broad falchion of the Christian,
+the curved Damascus cimiter of the Moor, gleamed in the air.  They reined
+their chargers opposite each other in grave and deliberate silence.
+
+"Yield thee, sir knight!" at length cried the fierce Moor, "for the motto
+on my cimiter declares that if thou meetest its stroke, thy days are
+numbered.  The sword of the believer is the Key of Heaven and Hell."
+--[Such, says Sale, is the poetical phrase of the Mohammedan divines.]
+
+"False Paynim," answered Alonzo, in a voice that rung hollow through his
+helmet, "a Christian knight is the equal of a Moorish army!"
+
+Muza made no reply, but left the rein of his charger on his neck; the
+noble animal understood the signal, and with a short impatient cry rushed
+forward at full speed.  Alonzo met the charge with his falchion upraised,
+and his whole body covered with his shield; the Moor bent--the Spaniards
+raised a shout--Muza seemed stricken from his horse.  But the blow of the
+heavy falchion had not touched him: and, seemingly without an effort, the
+curved blade of his own cimiter, gliding by that part of his antagonist's
+throat where the helmet joins the cuirass, passed unresistingly and
+silently through the joints; and Alonzo fell at once, and without a
+groan, from his horse--his armour, to all appearance, unpenetrated, while
+the blood oozed slow and gurgling from a mortal wound.
+
+"Allah il Allah!" shouted Muza, as he joined his friends; "Lelilies!
+Lelilies!" echoed the Moors; and ere the Christians recovered their
+dismay, they were engaged hand to hand with their ferocious and swarming
+foes.  It was, indeed, fearful odds; and it was a marvel to the Spaniards
+how the Moors had been enabled to harbour and conceal their numbers in so
+small a space.  Horse and foot alike beset the company of Villena,
+already sadly reduced; and while the infantry, with desperate and savage
+fierceness, thrust themselves under the very bellies of the chargers,
+encountering both the hoofs of the steed and the deadly lance of the
+rider, in the hope of finding a vulnerable place for the sharp Moorish
+knife,--the horsemen, avoiding the stern grapple of the Spaniard
+warriors, harrassed them by the shaft and lance,--now advancing, now
+retreating, and performing, with incredible rapidity, the evolutions of
+Oriental cavalry.  But the life and soul of his party was the indomitable
+Muza.  With a rashness which seemed to the superstitious Spaniards like
+the safety of a man protected by magic, he spurred his ominous black barb
+into the very midst of the serried phalanx which Villena endeavoured to
+form around him, breaking the order by his single charge, and from time
+to time bringing to the dust some champion of the troop by the noiseless
+and scarce-seen edge of his fatal cimiter.
+
+Villena, in despair alike of fame and life, and gnawed with grief for his
+brother's loss, at length resolved to put the last hope of the battle on
+his single arm.  He gave the signal for retreat; and to protect his
+troop, remained himself, alone and motionless, on his horse, like a
+statue of iron.  Though not of large frame, he was esteemed the best
+swordsman, next only to Hernando del Pulgar and Gonsalvo de Cordova, in
+the army; practised alike in the heavy assault of the Christian warfare,
+and the rapid and dexterous exercise of the Moorish cavalry.  There he
+remained, alone and grim--a lion at bay--while his troops slowly
+retreated down the Vega, and their trumpets sounded loud signals of
+distress, and demands for succour, to such of their companions as might
+be within bearing.  Villena's armour defied the shafts of the Moors; and
+as one after one darted towards him, with whirling cimiter and momentary
+assault, few escaped with impunity from an eye equally quick and a weapon
+more than equally formidable.  Suddenly, a cloud of dust swept towards
+him; and Muza, a moment before at the further end of the field, came
+glittering through that cloud, with his white robe waving and his right
+arm bare.  Villena recognised him, set his teeth hard, and putting spurs
+to his charger, met the rush.  Muza swerved aside, just as the heavy
+falchion swung over his head, and by a back stroke of his own cimiter,
+shore through the cuirass just above the hip-joint, and the blood
+followed the blade.  The brave cavaliers saw the danger of their chief;
+three of their number darted forward, and came in time to separate the
+combatants.
+
+Muza stayed not to encounter the new reinforcement; but speeding across
+the plain, was soon seen rallying his own scattered cavalry, and pouring
+them down, in one general body, upon the scanty remnant of the Spaniards.
+
+"Our day is come!" said the good knight Villena, with bitter resignation.
+"Nothing is left for us, my friends, but to give up our lives--an example
+how Spanish warriors should live and die.  May God and the Holy Mother
+forgive our sins and shorten our purgatory!"
+
+Just as he spoke, a clarion was heard at a distance and the sharpened
+senses of the knights caught the ring of advancing hoofs.
+
+"We are saved!" cried Estevon de Suzon, rising on his stirrups.  While he
+spoke, the dashing stream of the Moorish horse broke over the little
+band; and Estevon beheld bent upon himself the dark eyes and quivering
+lip of Muza Ben Abil Gazan.  That noble knight had never, perhaps, till
+then known fear; but he felt his heart stand still, as he now stood
+opposed to that irresistible foe.
+
+"The dark fiend guides his blade!" thought De Suzon; "but I was shriven
+but yestermorn."  The thought restored his wonted courage; and he spurred
+on to meet the cimiter of the Moor.
+
+His assault took Muza by surprise.  The Moor's horse stumbled over the
+ground, cumbered with the dead and slippery with blood, and his uplifted
+cimiter could not do more than break the force of the gigantic arm of De
+Suzon; as the knight's falchion bearing down the cimiter, and alighting
+on the turban of the Mohammedan, clove midway through its folds, arrested
+only by the admirable temper of the links of steel which protected it.
+The shock hurled the Moor to the ground.  He rolled under the saddle-
+girths of his antagonist.
+
+"Victory and St. Jago!" cried  the  knight,  "Muza is--"
+
+The sentence was left eternally unfinished.  The blade of the fallen Moor
+had already pierced De Suzoii's horse through a mortal but undefended
+part.  It fell, bearing his rider with him.  A moment, and the two
+champions lay together grappling in the dust; in the next, the short
+knife which the Moor wore in his girdle had penetrated the Christian's
+visor, passing through the brain.
+
+To remount his steed, that remained at band, humbled and motionless, to
+appear again amongst the thickest of the fray, was a work no less rapidly
+accomplished than had been the slaughter of the unhappy Estevon de Suzon.
+But now the fortune of the day was stopped in a progress hitherto so
+triumphant to the Moors.
+
+Pricking fast over the plain were seen the glittering horsemen of the
+Christian reinforcements; and, at the remoter distance, the royal banner
+of Spain, indistinctly descried through volumes of dust, denoted that
+Ferdinand himself was advancing to the support of his cavaliers.
+
+The Moors, however, who had themselves received many and mysterious
+reinforcements, which seemed to spring up like magic from the bosom of
+the earth--so suddenly and unexpectedly had they emerged from copse and
+cleft in that mountainous and entangled neighbourhood--were not
+unprepared for a fresh foe.  At the command of the vigilant Muza, they
+drew off, fell into order, and, seizing, while yet there was time, the
+vantage-ground which inequalities of the soil and the shelter of the
+trees gave to their darts and agile horse, they presented an array which
+Ponce de Leon himself, who now arrived, deemed it more prudent not to
+assault.  While Villena, in accents almost inarticulate with rage, was
+urging the Marquess of Cadiz to advance, Ferdinand, surrounded by the
+flower of his court, arrived at the rear of the troops and after a few
+words interchanged with Ponce de Leon, gave the signal to retreat.
+
+When the Moors beheld that noble soldiery slowly breaking ground, and
+retiring towards the camp, even Muza could not control their ardour.
+They rushed forward, harassing the retreat of the Christians, and
+delaying the battle by various skirmishes.
+
+It was at this time that the headlong valour of Hernando del Pulgar, who
+had arrived with Ponce de Leon, distinguished itself in feats which yet
+live in the songs of Spain.  Mounted upon an immense steed, and himself
+of colossal strength, he was seen charging alone upon the assailants, and
+scattering numbers to the ground with the sweep of his enormous two-
+handed falchion.  With a loud voice, he called on Muza to oppose him; but
+the Moor, fatigued with slaughter, and scarcely recovered from the shock
+of his encounter with De Suzon, reserved so formidable a foe for a future
+contest.
+
+It was at this juncture, while the field was covered with straggling
+skirmishers, that a small party of Spaniards, in cutting their way to the
+main body of their countrymen through one of the numerous copses held by
+the enemy, fell in at the outskirt with an equal number of Moors, and
+engaged them in a desperate conflict, hand to hand.  Amidst the infidels
+was one man who took no part in the affray: at a little distance, he
+gazed for a few moments upon the fierce and relentless slaughter of Moor
+and Christian with a smile of stern and complacent delight; and then
+taking advantage of the general confusion, rode gently, and, as he hoped,
+unobserved, away from the scene.  But he was not destined so quietly to
+escape.  A Spaniard perceived him, and, from something strange and
+unusual in his garb, judged him one of the Moorish leaders; and presently
+Almamen, for it was he, beheld before him the uplifted falchion of a foe
+neither disposed to give quarter nor to hear parley.  Brave though the
+Israelite was, many reasons concurred to prevent his taking a personal
+part against the soldier of Spain; and seeing he should have no chance of
+explanation, he fairly puts spurs to his horse, and galloped across the
+plain.  The Spaniard followed, gained upon him, and Almamen at length
+turned, in despair and the wrath of his haughty nature.
+
+"Have thy will, fool!" said he, between his grinded teeth, as he griped
+his dagger and prepared for the conflict.  It was long and obstinate, for
+the Spaniard was skilful; and the Hebrew wearing no mail, and without any
+weapon more formidable than a sharp and well-tempered dagger, was forced
+to act cautiously on the defensive.  At length the combatants grappled,
+and, by a dexterous thrust, the short blade of Almamen pierced the throat
+of his antagonist, who fell prostrate to the ground.
+
+"I am safe," he thought, as he wheeled round his horse; when lo! the
+Spaniards he had just left behind, and who had now routed their
+antagonists, were upon him.
+
+"Yield, or die!" cried the leader of the troop.
+
+Almamen glared round; no succour was at hand.  "I am not your enemy,"
+said he, sullenly, throwing down his weapon--"bear me to your camp."
+
+A trooper seized his rein, and, scouring along, the Spaniards soon
+reached the retreating army.
+
+Meanwhile the evening darkened, the shout and the roar grew gradually
+less loud and loud---the battle had ceased--the stragglers had joined
+their several standards and, by the light of the first star, the Moorish
+force, bearing their wounded brethren, and elated with success,
+re-entered the gates of Granada, as the black charger of the hero of the
+day, closing the rear of the cavalry, disappeared within the gloomy
+portals.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE HERO IN THE POWER OF THE DREAMER.
+
+It was in the same chamber, and nearly at the same hour, in which we
+first presented to the reader Boabdil el Chico, that we are again
+admitted to the presence of that ill-starred monarch.  He was not alone.
+His favourite slave, Amine, reclined upon the ottomans, gazing with
+anxious love upon his thoughtful countenance, as he leant against the
+glittering wall by the side of the casement, gazing abstractedly on the
+scene below.
+
+From afar he heard the shouts of the populace at the return of Muza, and
+bursts of artillery confirmed the tidings of triumph which had already
+been borne to his ear.
+
+"May the king live for ever!" said Amine, timidly; "his armies have gone
+forth to conquer."
+
+"But without their king," replied  Boabdil,  bitterly, and headed by a
+traitor and a foe.  I am meshed in the nets of an inextricable fate!"
+
+"Oh!" said the slave, with sudden energy, as, clasping her hands, she
+rose from her couch,--"oh, my lord, would that these humble lips dared
+utter other words than those of love!"
+
+"And what wise counsel would they give me?" asked Boabdil with a faint
+smile.  "Speak on."
+
+"I will obey thee, then, even if it displease," cried Amine; and she
+rose, her cheek glowing, her eyes spark ling, her beautiful form dilated.
+"I am a daughter of Granada; I am the beloved of a king; I will be true
+to my birth and to my fortunes.  Boabdil el Chico, the last of a line of
+heroes, shake off these gloomy fantasies--these doubts and dreams that
+smother the fire of a great nature and a kingly soul!  Awake--arise--rob
+Granada of her Muza--be thyself her Muza!  Trustest thou to magic and to
+spells? then grave them on they breastplate, write them on thy sword, and
+live no longer the Dreamer of the Alhambra; become the saviour of thy
+people!"
+
+Boabdil turned, and gazed on the inspired and beautiful form before him
+with mingled emotions of surprise and shame.  "Out of the mouth of woman
+cometh my rebuke!" said he sadly.  "It is well!"
+
+"Pardon me, pardon me!" said the slave, falling humbly at his knees; "but
+blame me not that I would have thee worthy of thyself.  Wert thou not
+happier, was not thy heart more light and thy hope more strong when, at
+the head of thine armies, thine own cimiter slew thine own foes, and the
+terror of the Hero-king spread, in flame and slaughter, from the
+mountains to the seas.  Boabdil! dear as thou art to me-equally as I
+would have loved thee hadst thou been born a lowly fisherman of the
+Darro, since thou art a king, I would have thee die a king; even if my
+own heart broke as I armed thee for thy latest battle!"
+
+"Thou knowest not what thou sayest, Amine," said Boabdil, "nor canst thou
+tell what spirits that are not of earth dictate to the actions and watch
+over the destinies, of the rulers of nations.  If I delay, if I linger,
+it is not from terror, but from wisdom.  The cloud must gather on, dark
+and slow, ere the moment for the thunderbolt arrives."
+
+"On thine own house will the thunderbolt fall, since over thine own house
+thou sufferest the cloud to gather," said a calm and stern voice.
+
+Boabdil started; and in the chamber stood a third person, in the shape of
+a woman, past middle age, and of commanding port and stature.  Upon her
+long-descending robes of embroidered purple were thickly woven jewels of
+royal price, and her dark hair, slightly tinged with grey, parted over a
+majestic brow while a small diadem surmounted the folds of the turban.
+
+"My mother!" said Boabdil, with some haughty reserve in his tone; "your
+presence is unexpected."
+
+"Ay," answered Ayxa la Horra, for it was indeed that celebrated, and
+haughty, and high-souled queen, "and unwelcome; so is ever that of your
+true friends.  But not thus unwelcome was the presence of your mother,
+when her brain and her hand delivered you from the dungeon in which your
+stern father had cast your youth, and the dagger and the bowl seemed the
+only keys that would unlock the cell."
+
+"And better hadst thou left the ill-omened son that thy womb conceived,
+to die thus in youth, honoured and lamented, than to live to manhood,
+wrestling against an evil star and a relentless fate."
+
+"Son," said the queen, gazing upon him with lofty and half disdainful
+compassion, "men's conduct shapes out their own fortunes, and the unlucky
+are never the valiant and the wise."
+
+"Madam," said Boabdil, colouring with passion, "I am still a king, nor
+will I be thus bearded--withdraw!"
+
+Ere the queen could reply, a eunuch entered, and whispered Boabdil.
+
+"Ha!" said he, joyfully, stamping his foot, "comes he then to brave the
+lion in his den?  Let the rebel look to it.  Is he alone?"
+
+"Alone, great king."
+
+"Bid my guards wait without; let the slightest signal summon them.
+Amine, retire!  Madam--"
+
+"Son!" interrupted Ayxa la Horra in visible agitation, "do I guess
+aright? is the brave Muza--the sole bulwark and hope of Granada--whom
+unjustly thou wouldst last night have placed in chains--(chains! Great
+Prophet! is it thus a king should reward his heroes)--is, I say, Muza
+here? and wilt thou make him the victim of his own generous trust?"
+
+"Retire, woman?" said Boabdil, sullenly.
+
+"I will not, save by force!  I resisted a fiercer soul than thine when I
+saved thee from thy father."
+
+"Remain, then, if thou wilt, and learn how kings can punish traitors.
+Mesnour, admit the hero of Granada."  Amine had vanished.  Boabdil seated
+himself on the cushions his face calm but pale.  The queen stood erect at
+a little distance, her arms folded on her breast, and her aspect knit and
+resolute.  In a few moments Muza entered alone.  He approached the king
+with the profound salutation of oriental obeisance; and then stood before
+him with downcast eyes, in an attitude from which respect could not
+divorce a natural dignity and pride of mien.
+
+"Prince," said Boabdil, after a moment's pause, "yestermorn, when I sent
+for thee thou didst brave my orders.  Even in mine own Alhambra thy
+minions broke out in mutiny; they surrounded the fortress in which thou
+wert to wait my pleasure; they intercepted, they insulted, they drove
+back my guards; they stormed the towers protected by the banner of thy
+king.  The governor, a coward or a traitor, rendered thee to the
+rebellious crowd.  Was this all?  No, by the Prophet!  Thou, by right my
+captive, didst leave thy prison but to head mine armies.  And this day,
+the traitor subject--the secret foe--was the leader of a people who defy
+a king.  This night thou comest to me unsought.  Thou feelest secure from
+my just wrath, even in my palace.  Thine insolence blinds and betrays
+thee.  Man, thou art in my power!  Ho, there!"
+
+As the king spoke, he rose; and, presently, the arcades at the back of
+the pavilion were darkened by long lines of the Ethiopian guard, each of
+height which, beside the slight Moorish race, appeared gigantic; stolid
+and passionless machines, to execute, without thought, the bloodiest or
+the slightest caprice of despotism.  There they stood; their silver
+breastplates and long earrings contrasting their dusky skins; and
+bearing, over their shoulders, immense clubs studded with brazen nails.
+
+A little advanced from the rest, stood the captain, with the fatal
+bowstring hanging carelessly on his arm, and his eyes intent to catch the
+slightest gesture of the king.  "Behold!" said Boabdil to his prisoner.
+
+"I do; and am prepared for what I have foreseen."  The queen grew pale,
+but continued silent.
+
+Muza resumed--
+
+"Lord of the faithful!" said he, "if yestermorn I had acted otherwise, it
+would have been to the ruin of thy throne and our common race.  The
+fierce Zegris suspected and learned my capture.  They summoned the troops
+they delivered me, it is true.  At that time had I reasoned with them, it
+would have been as drops upon a flame.  They were bent on besieging thy
+palace, perhaps upon demanding thy abdication.  I could not stifle their
+fury, but I could direct it.  In the moment of passion, I led them from
+rebellion against our common king to victory against our common foe.
+That duty done, I come unscathed from the sword of the Christian to bare
+my neck to the bowstring of my friend.  Alone, untracked, unsuspected, I
+have entered thy palace to prove to the sovereign of Granada, that the
+defendant of his throne is not a rebel to his will.  Now summon the
+guards--I have done."
+
+"Muza!" said Boabdil, in a softened voice, while he shaded his face with
+his hand, "we played together as children, and I have loved thee well: my
+kingdom even now, perchance, is passing from me, but I could almost be
+reconciled to that loss, if I thought thy loyalty had not left me."
+
+"Dost thou, in truth, suspect the faith of Muza Ben Abil Gazan?" said the
+Moorish prince, in a tone of surprise and sorrow.  "Unhappy king!  I
+deemed that my services, and not my defection, made my crime."
+
+"Why do my people hate me? why do my armies menace?" said Boabdil,
+evasively; "why should a subject possess that allegiance which a king
+cannot obtain?"
+
+"Because," replied Muza, boldly, "the king has delegated to a subject the
+command he should himself assume.  Oh, Boabdil!" he continued,
+passionately--"friend of my boyhood, ere the evil days came upon us,--
+gladly would I sink to rest beneath the dark waves of yonder river, if
+thy arm and brain would fill up my place amongst the warriors of Granada.
+And think not I say this only from our boyish love; think not I have
+placed my life in thy hands only from that servile loyalty to a single
+man, which the false chivalry of Christendom imposes as a sacred creed
+upon its knights and nobles.  But I speak and act but from one principle
+--to save the religion of, my father and the land of my birth: for this I
+have risked my life against the foe; for this I surrender my life to the
+sovereign of my country.  Granada may yet survive, if monarch and people
+unite together.  Granada is lost for ever, if her children, at this fatal
+hour, are divided against themselves.  If, then, I, O Boabdil! am the
+true obstacle to thy league with thine own subjects, give me at once to
+the bowstring, and my sole prayer shall be for the last remnant of the
+Moorish name, and the last monarch of the Moorish dynasty."
+
+"My son, my son! art thou convinced at last?" cried the queen, struggling
+with her tears; for she was one who wept easily at heroic sentiments, but
+never at the softer sorrows, or from the more womanly emotions.
+
+Boabdil lifted his head with a vain and momentary attempt at pride; his
+eye glanced from his mother to his friend, and his better feelings gushed
+upon him with irresistible force; he threw himself into Muza's arms.
+
+"Forgive me," he said, in broken accents, "forgive me!  How could I have
+wronged thee thus?  Yes," he continued, as he started from the noble
+breast on which for a moment he indulged no ungenerous weakness,--"yes,
+prince, your example shames, but it fires me.  Granada henceforth shall
+have two chieftains; and if I be jealous of thee, it shall be from an
+emulation thou canst not blame.  Guards, retire.  Mesnour! ho, Mesnour!
+Proclaim at daybreak that I myself will review the troops in the
+Vivarrambla.  Yet"--and, as he spoke his voice faltered, and his brow
+became overcast, "yet stay, seek me thyself at daybreak, and I will give
+thee my commands."
+
+"Oh, my son! why hesitate?" cried the queen, "why waver?  Prosecute thine
+own kingly designs, and--"
+
+"Hush, madam," said Boabdil, regaining his customary cold composure; "and
+since you are now satisfied with your son, leave me alone with Muza."
+
+The queen sighed heavily; but there was something in the calm of Boabdil
+which chilled and awed her more than his bursts of passion.  She drew her
+veil around her, and passed slowly and reluctantly from the chamber.
+
+"Muza," said Boabdil, when alone with the prince, and fixing his large
+and thoughtful eyes upon the dark orbs of his companion,--"when, in our
+younger days, we conversed together, do you remember how often that
+converse turned upon those solemn and mysterious themes to which the
+sages of our ancestral land directed their deepest lore; the enigmas of
+the stars--the science of fate--the wild searches into the clouded
+future, which hides the destines of nations and of men?  Thou
+rememberest, Muza, that to such studies mine own vicissitudes and
+sorrows, even in childhood--the strange fortunes which gave me in my
+cradle the epithet of El Zogoybi--the ominous predictions of santons and
+astrologers as to the trials of my earthly fate,--all contributed to
+incline my soul.  Thou didst not despise those earnest musings, nor our
+ancestral lore, though, unlike me, ever more inclined to action than to
+contemplation, that which thou mightest believe had little influence upon
+what thou didst design.  With me it hath been otherwise; every event of
+life hath conspired to feed my early prepossessions; and, in this awful
+crisis of my fate, I have placed myself and my throne rather under the
+guardianship of spirits than of men.  This alone has reconciled me to
+inaction--to the torpor of the Alhambra--to the mutinies of my people.
+I have smiled, when foes surround and friends deserted me, secure of the
+aid at last--if I bided but the fortunate hour--of the charms of
+protecting spirits, and the swords of the invisible creation.  Thou
+wonderest what this should lead to.  Listen!  Two nights since (and the
+king shuddered) I was with the dead!  My father appeared before me--not
+as I knew him in life--gaunt and terrible, full of the vigour of health,
+and the strength of kingly empire, and of fierce passion--but wan, calm,
+shadowy.  From lips on which Azrael had set his livid seal, he bade me
+beware of thee!"
+
+The king ceased suddenly; and sought to read on the face of Muza the
+effect his words produced.  But the proud and swarthy features of the
+Moor evinced no pang of conscience; a slight smile of pity might have
+crossed his lip for a moment, but it vanished ere the king could detect
+it.  Boabdil continued:
+
+"Under the influence of this warning, I issued the order for thy arrest.
+Let this pass--I resume my tale.  I attempted to throw myself at the
+spectre's feet--it glided from me, motionless and impalpable.  I asked
+the Dead One if he forgave his unhappy son the sin of rebellion alas!
+too well requited even upon earth.  And the voice again came forth, and
+bade me keep the crown that I had gained, as the sole atonement for the
+past.  Then again I asked, whether the hour for action had arrived! and
+the spectre, while it faded gradually into air, answered, 'No!'  'Oh!' I
+exclaimed, 'ere thou leavest me, be one sign accorded me, that I have not
+dreamt this vision; and give me, I pray thee, note and warning, when the
+evil star of Boabdil shall withhold its influence, and he may strike,
+without resistance from the Powers above, for his glory and his throne.'
+'The sign and the warning are bequeathed thee,' answered the ghostly
+image.  It vanished,--thick darkness fell around; and, when once more the
+light of the lamps we bore became visible, behold there stood before me
+a skeleton, in the regal robe of the kings of Granada, and on its grisly
+head was the imperial diadem.  With one hand raised, it pointed to the
+opposite wall, wherein burned, like an orb of gloomy fire, a broad dial-
+plate, on which were graven these words, BEWARE--FEAR NOT--ARM!  The
+finger of the dial moved rapidly round, and rested at the word beware.
+From that hour to the one in which I last beheld it, it hath not moved.
+Muza, the tale is done; wilt thou visit with me this enchanted chamber,
+and see if the hour be come?"
+
+"Commander of the faithful," said Muza, "the story is dread and awful.
+But pardon thy friend--wert thou alone, or was the santon Almamen thy
+companion?"
+
+"Why the  question?" said  Boabdil, evasively, and slightly colouring.
+
+"I fear his truth," answered Muza; "the Christian king conquers more foes
+by craft than force; and his spies are more deadly than his warriors.
+Wherefore this caution against me, but (pardon me) for thine own undoing?
+Were I a traitor, could Ferdinand himself have endangered thy crown so
+imminently as the revenge of the leader of thine own armies?  Why, too,
+this desire to keep thee inactive?  For the brave every hour hath its
+chances; but, for us, every hour increases our peril.  If we seize not
+the present time,--our supplies are cut off,--and famine is a foe all our
+valour cannot resist.  This dervise--who is he? a stranger, not of our
+race and blood.  But this morning I found him without the walls, not far
+from the Spaniard's camp."
+
+"Ha!" cried the king, quickly, "and what said he?"
+
+"Little, but in hints; sheltering himself, by loose hints, under thy
+name."
+
+"He! what dared he own?--Muza, what were those hints?"
+
+The Moor here recounted the interview with Almamen, his detention, his
+inactivity in the battle, and his subsequent capture by the Spaniards.
+The king listened attentively, and regained his composure.
+
+"It is a strange and awful man," said he after a pause.  "Guards and
+chains will not detain him.  Ere long he will return.  But thou, at
+least, Muza, are henceforth free, alike from the suspicion of the living
+and the warnings of the dead.  No, my friend," continued Boabdil, with
+generous warmth, "it is better to lose a crown, to lose life itself, than
+confidence in a heart like thine.  Come, let us inspect this magic
+tablet; perchance--and how my heart bounds as I utter the hope!--the hour
+may have arrived."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A FULLER VIEW OF THE CHARACTER OF BOABDIL.--MUZA IN THE GARDENS OF HIS
+BELOVED.
+
+Muza Ben Abil Gazan returned from his visit to Boabdil with a thoughtful
+and depressed spirit.  His arguments had failed to induce the king to
+disdain the command of the magic dial, which still forbade him to arm
+against the invaders; and although the royal favour was no longer
+withdrawn from himself, the Moor felt that such favour hung upon a
+capricious and uncertain tenure so long as his sovereign was the slave of
+superstition or imposture.  But that noble warrior, whose character the
+adversity of his country had singularly exalted and refined, even while
+increasing its natural fierceness, thought little of himself in
+comparison with the evils and misfortunes which the king's continued
+irresolution must bring upon Granada.
+
+"So brave, and yet so weak," thought he; "so weak, and yet so obstinate;
+so wise a reasoner, yet so credulous a dupe!  Unhappy Boabdil! the stars,
+indeed, seem to fight against thee, and their influences at thy birth
+marred all thy gifts and virtues with counteracting infirmity and error."
+
+Muza,--more perhaps than any subject in Granada,--did justice to the real
+character of the king; but even he was unable to penetrate all its
+complicated and latent mysteries.  Boabdil el Chico was no ordinary man;
+his affections were warm and generous, his nature calm and gentle; and,
+though early power, and the painful experience of a mutinous people and
+ungrateful court, had imparted to that nature an irascibility of temper
+and a quickness of suspicion foreign to its earlier soil, he was easily
+led back to generosity and justice; and, if warm in resentment, was
+magnanimous in forgiveness.  Deeply accomplished in all the learning of
+his race and time, he was--in books, at least--a philosopher; and,
+indeed, his attachment to the abstruser studies was one of the main
+causes which unfitted him for his present station.  But it was the
+circumstances attendant on his birth and childhood that had perverted his
+keen and graceful intellect to morbid indulgence in mystic reveries, and
+all the doubt, fear, and irresolution of a man who pushes metaphysics
+into the supernatural world.  Dark prophecies accumulated omens over his
+head; men united in considering him born to disastrous destinies.
+Whenever he had sought to wrestle against hostile circumstances, some
+seemingly accidental cause, sudden and unforeseen, had blasted the
+labours of his most vigorous energy,--the fruit of his most deliberate
+wisdom.  Thus, by degrees a gloomy and despairing cloud settled over his
+mind; but, secretly sceptical of the Mohammedan creed, and too proud and
+sanguine to resign himself wholly and passively to the doctrine of
+inevitable predestination, he sought to contend against the machinations
+of hostile demons and boding stars, not by human but spiritual agencies.
+Collecting around him the seers and magicians of orient-fanaticism, he
+lived in the visions of another world; and, flattered by the promises of
+impostors or dreamers, and deceived by his own subtle and brooding
+tendencies of mind, it was amongst spells and cabala that he thought to
+draw forth the mighty secret which was to free him from the meshes of the
+preternatural enemies of his fortune, and leave him the freedom of other
+men to wrestle, with equal chances, against peril and adversities.  It
+was thus, that Almamen had won the mastery over his mind; and, though
+upon matters of common and earthly import, or solid learning, Boabdil
+could contend with sages, upon those of superstition he could be fooled
+by a child.  He was, in this, a kind of Hamlet: formed, under prosperous
+and serene fortunes, to render blessings and reap renown; but over whom
+the chilling shadow of another world had fallen--whose soul curdled back
+into itself--whose life had been separated from that of the herd--whom
+doubts and awe drew back, while circumstances impelled onward--whom a
+supernatural doom invested with a peculiar philosophy, not of human
+effect and cause--and who, with every gift that could ennoble and adorn,
+was suddenly palsied into that mortal imbecility, which is almost ever
+the result of mortal visitings into the haunted regions of the Ghostly
+and Unknown.  The gloomier colourings of his mind had been deepened, too,
+by secret remorse.  For the preservation of his own life, constantly
+threatened by his unnatural predecessor, he had been early driven into
+rebellion against his father.  In age, infirmity, and blindness, that
+fierce king had been made a prisoner at Salobrena by his brother, El
+Zagal, Boabdil's partner in rebellion; and dying suddenly, El Zagal was
+suspected of his murder.  Though Boabdil was innocent of such a crime,
+he felt himself guilty of the causes which led to it; and a dark memory,
+resting upon his conscience, served to augment his superstition and
+enervate the vigour of his resolves; for, of all things that make men
+dreamers, none is so effectual as remorse operating upon a thoughtful
+temperament.
+
+Revolving the character of his sovereign, and sadly foreboding the ruin
+of his country, the young hero of Granada pursued his way, until his
+steps, almost unconsciously, led him towards the abode of Leila.  He
+scaled the walls of the garden as before--he neared the house.  All was
+silent and deserted; his signal was unanswered--his murmured song brought
+no grateful light to the lattice, no fairy footstep to the balcony.
+Dejected, and sad of heart, he retired from the spot; and, returning
+home, sought a couch, to which even all the fatigue and excitement he had
+undergone, could not win the forgetfulness of slumber.  The mystery that
+wrapt the maiden of his homage, the rareness of their interviews, and the
+wild and poetical romance that made a very principle of the chivalry of
+the Spanish Moors, had imparted to Muza's love for Leila a passionate
+depth, which, at this day, and in more enervated climes, is unknown to
+the Mohammedan lover.  His keenest inquiries had been unable to pierce
+the secret of her birth and station.  Little of the inmates of that
+guarded and lonely house was known in the neighbourhood; the only one
+ever seen without its walls was an old man of the Jewish faith, supposed
+to be a superintendent of the foreign slaves (for no Mohammedan slave
+would have been subjected to the insult of submission to a Jew); and
+though there were rumours of the vast wealth and gorgeous luxury within
+the mansion, it was supposed the abode of some Moorish emir absent from
+the city--and the interest of the gossips was at this time absorbed in
+more weighty matters than the affairs of a neighbour.  But when, the next
+eve, and the next, Muza returned to the spot equally in vain, his
+impatience and alarm could no longer be restrained; he resolved to lie in
+watch by the portals of the house night and day, until, at least, he
+could discover some one of the inmates, whom he could question of his
+love, and perhaps bribe to his service.  As with this resolution he was
+hovering round the mansion, he beheld, stealing from a small door in one
+of the low wings of the house, a bended and decrepit form: it supported
+its steps upon a staff; and, as now entering the garden, it stooped by
+the side of a fountain to cull flowers and herbs by the light of the
+moon, the Moor almost started to behold a countenance which resembled
+that of some ghoul or vampire haunting the places of the dead.  He smiled
+at his own fear; and, with a quick and stealthy pace, hastened through
+the trees, and, gaining the spot where the old man bent, placed his hand
+on his shoulder ere his presence was perceived.
+
+Ximen--for it was he--looked round eagerly, and a faint cry of terror
+broke from his lips.
+
+"Hush!" said the Moor; "fear me not, I am a friend.  Thou art old, man--
+gold is ever welcome to the aged."  As he spoke, he dropped several broad
+pieces into the breast of the Jew, whose ghastly features gave forth a
+yet more ghastly smile, as he received the gift, and mumbled forth,
+
+"Charitable young man!  generous, benevolent, excellent young man!"
+
+"Now then," said Muza, "tell me--you belong to this house--Leila, the
+maiden within--tell me of her--is she well?"
+
+"I trust so," returned the Jew; "I trust so, noble master."
+
+"Trust so! know you not of her state?"
+
+"Not I; for many nights I have not seen her, excellent sir," answered
+Ximen; "she hath left Granada, she hath gone.  You waste your time and
+mar your precious health amidst these nightly dews: they are unwholesome,
+very unwholesome at the time of the new moon."
+
+"Gone!" echoed the Moor; "left Granada!--woe is me!--and whither?--there,
+there, more gold for you,--old man, tell me whither?"
+
+"Alas! I know not, most magnanimous young man; I am but a servant--I know
+nothing."
+
+"When will she return?"
+
+"I cannot tell thee."
+
+"Who is thy master? who owns yon mansion?"
+
+Ximen's countenance fell; he looked round in doubt and fear, and then,
+after a short pause, answered,--"A wealthy man, good sir--a Moor of
+Africa; but he hath also gone; he but seldom visits us; Granada is not so
+peaceful a residence as it was,--I would go too, if I could."
+
+Muza released his hold of Ximen, who gazed at the Moor's working
+countenance with a malignant smile--for Ximen hated all men.
+
+"Thou hast done with me, young warrior?  Pleasant dreams to thee under
+the new moon--thou hadst best retire to thy bed.  Farewell! bless thy
+charity to the poor old man!"
+
+Muza heard him not; he remained motionless for some moments; and then
+with a heavy sigh as that of one who has gained the mastery of himself
+after a bitter struggle, the said half aloud, "Allah be with thee, Leila!
+Granada now is my only mistress."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+BOABDIL'S RECONCILIATION WITH HIS PEOPLE.
+
+Several days had elapsed without any encounter between Moor and
+Christian; for Ferdinand's cold and sober policy, warned by the loss he
+had sustained in the ambush of Muza, was now bent on preserving rigorous
+restraint upon the fiery spirits he commanded.  He forbade all parties of
+skirmish, in which the Moors, indeed, had usually gained the advantage,
+and contented himself with occupying all the passes through which
+provisions could arrive at the besieged city.  He commenced strong
+fortifications around his camp; and, forbidding assault on the Moors,
+defied it against himself.
+
+Meanwhile, Almamen had not returned to Granada.  No tidings of his fate
+reached the king; and his prolonged disappearance began to produce
+visible and salutary effect upon the long-dormant energies of Boabdil.
+The counsels of Muza, the exhortations of the queen-mother, the
+enthusiasm of his mistress, Amine, uncounteracted by the arts of the
+magician, aroused the torpid lion of his nature.  But still his army and
+his subjects murmured against him; and his appearance in the Vivarrambla
+might possibly be the signal of revolt.  It was at this time that a most
+fortunate circumstance at once restored to him the confidence and
+affections of his people.  His stern uncle, El Zagal--once a rival for
+his crown, and whose daring valour, mature age, and military sagacity had
+won him a powerful party within the city--had been, some months since,
+conquered by Ferdinand; and, in yielding the possessions he held, had
+been rewarded with a barren and dependent principality.  His defeat, far
+from benefiting Boabdil, had exasperated the Moors against their king.
+"For," said they, almost with one voice, "the brave El Zagal never would
+have succumbed had Boabdil properly supported his arms."  And it was the
+popular discontent and rage at El Zagal's defeat which had indeed served
+Boabdil with a reasonable excuse for shutting himself in the strong
+fortress of the Alhambra.  It now happened that El Zagal, whose dominant
+passion was hatred of his nephew, and whose fierce nature chafed at its
+present cage, resolved in his old age to blast all his former fame by a
+signal treason to his country.  Forgetting everything but revenge against
+his nephew, who he was resolved should share his own ruin, he armed his
+subjects, crossed the country, and appeared at the head of a gallant
+troop in the Spanish camp, an ally with Ferdinand against Granada.  When
+this was heard by the Moors, it is impossible to conceive their indignant
+wrath: the crime of El Zagal produced an instantaneous reaction in favour
+of Boabdil; the crowd surrounded the Alhambra and with prayers and tears
+entreated the forgiveness of the king.  This event completed the conquest
+of Boabdil over his own irresolution.  He ordained an assembly of the
+whole army in the broad space of the Vivarrambla: and when at break of
+day he appeared in full armour in the square, with Muza at his right
+hand, himself in the flower of youthful beauty, and proud to feel once
+more a hero and a king, the joy of the people knew no limit; the air was
+rent with cries of "Long live Boabdil el Chico!" and the young monarch,
+turning to Muza, with his soul upon his brow exclaimed, "The hour has
+come--I am no longer El Zogoybi!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+LEILA.--HER NEW LOVER.--PORTRAIT OF THE FIRST INQUISITOR OF SPAIN.--THE
+CHALICE RETURNED TO THE LIPS OF ALMAMEN.
+
+While thus the state of events within Granada, the course of our story
+transports us back to the Christian camp.  It was in one of a long line
+of tents that skirted the pavilion of Isabel, and was appropriated to the
+ladies attendant on the royal presence, that a young female sat alone.
+The dusk of evening already gathered around, and only the outline of her
+form and features was visible.  But even that, imperfectly seen,--the
+dejected attitude of the form, the drooping head, the hands clasped upon
+the knees,--might have sufficed to denote the melancholy nature of the
+reverie which the maid indulged.
+
+"Ah," thought she, "to what danger am I exposed!  If my father, if my
+lover dreamed of the persecution to which their poor Leila is abandoned!"
+
+A few tears, large and bitter, broke from her eyes, and stole unheeded
+down her cheek.  At that moment, the deep and musical chime of a bell was
+heard summoning the chiefs of the army to prayer; for Ferdinand invested
+all his worldly schemes with a religious covering, and to his politic war
+he sought to give the imposing character of a sacred crusade.
+
+"That sound," thought she, sinking on her knees, "summons the Nazarenes
+to the presence of their God.  It reminds me, a captive by the waters of
+Babylon, that God is ever with the friendless.  Oh! succour and defend
+me, Thou who didst look of old upon Ruth standing amidst the corn, and
+didst watch over Thy chosen people in the hungry wilderness, and in the
+stranger's land."
+
+Wrapt in her mute and passionate devotions, Leila remained long in her
+touching posture.  The bell had ceased; all without was hushed and still
+--when the drapery, stretched across the opening of the tent, was lifted,
+and a young Spaniard, cloaked, from head to foot, in a long mantle, stood
+within the space.  He gazed in silence, upon the kneeling maiden; nor was
+it until she rose that he made his presence audible.
+
+"Ah, fairest!" said he, then, as he attempted to take her hand, "thou
+wilt not answer my letters--see me, then, at thy feet.  It is thou who
+teachest me to kneel."
+
+"You, prince."  said Leila, agitated, and in great and evident fear.
+"Why harass and insult me thus?  Am I not sacred as a hostage and a
+charge? and are name, honour, peace, and all that woman is taught to
+hold most dear, to be thus robbed from me under the pretext of a love
+dishonouring to thee and an insult to myself?"
+
+"Sweet one," answered Don Juan, with a slight laugh, "thou hast learned,
+within yonder walls, a creed of morals little known to Moorish maidens,
+if fame belies them not.  Suffer me to teach thee easier morality and
+sounder logic.  It is no dishonour to a Christian prince to adore beauty
+like thine; it is no insult to a maiden hostage if the Infant of Spain
+proffer her the homage of his heart.  But we waste time.  Spies, and
+envious tongues, and vigilant eyes, are around us; and it is not often
+that I can baffle them as I have done now.  Fairest, hear me!" and this
+time he succeeded in seizing the hand which vainly struggled against his
+clasp.  "Nay, why so coy? what can female heart desire that my love
+cannot shower upon thine?  Speak but the word, enchanting maiden, and I
+will bear thee from these scenes unseemly to thy gentle eyes.  Amidst the
+pavilions of princes shalt thou repose; and, amidst gardens of the orange
+and the rose, shalt thou listen to the vows of thine adorer.  Surely, in
+these arms thou wilt not pine for a barbarous home and a fated city.  And
+if thy pride, sweet maiden, deafen thee to the voice of nature, learn
+that the haughtiest dames of Spain would bend, in envious court, to the
+beloved of their future king.  This night--listen to me--I say, listen--
+this night I will bear thee hence!  Be but mine, and no matter, whether
+heretic or infidel, or whatever the priests style thee, neither Church
+nor king shall tear thee from the bosom of thy lover."
+
+"It is well spoken, son of the most Christian monarch!" said a deep
+voice; and the Dominican, Tomas de Torquemada, stood before the prince.
+
+Juan, as if struck by a thunderbolt, released his hold, and, staggering
+back a few paces, seemed to cower, abashed and humbled, before the eye of
+the priest, as it glared upon him through the gathering darkness.
+
+"Prince," said the friar, after a pause, "not to thee will our holy
+Church attribute this crime; thy pious heart hath been betrayed by
+sorcery.  Retire!"
+
+"Father," said the prince,--in a tone into which, despite his awe of that
+terrible man, THE FIRST GRAND INQUISITOR OF SPAIN, his libertine spirit
+involuntarily forced itself, in a half latent raillery,--"sorcery of eyes
+like those bewitched the wise son of a more pious sire than even
+Ferdinand of Arragon."
+
+"He blasphemes!" muttered the monk.  "Prince, beware! you know not what
+you do."
+
+The prince lingered, and then, as if aware that he must yield, gathered
+his cloak round him, and left the tent without reply.
+
+Pale and trembling,--with fears no less felt, perhaps, though more vague
+and perplexed, than those from which she had just been delivered,--Leila
+stood before the monk.
+
+"Be seated, daughter of the faithless," said Torquemada, "we would
+converse with thee: and, as thou valuest--I say not thy soul, for, alas!
+of that precious treasure thou art not conscious--but mark me, woman! as
+thou prizest the safety of those delicate limbs, and that wanton beauty,
+answer truly what I shall ask thee.  The man who brought thee hither--is
+he, in truth, thy father?"
+
+"Alas!" answered Leila, almost fainting with terror at this rude and
+menacing address, "he is, in truth, mine only parent."
+
+"And his faith--his religion?"
+
+"I have never beheld him pray."
+
+"Hem! he never prays--a noticeable fact.  But of what sect, what creed,
+does he profess himself?"
+
+"I cannot answer thee."
+
+"Nay, there be means that may wring from thee an answer.  Maiden, be not
+so stubborn; speak! thinkest thou he serves the temple of the
+Mohammedan?"
+
+"No! oh, no!" answered poor Leila, eagerly, deeming that her reply, in
+this, at least, would be acceptable.  "He disowns, he scorns, he abhors,
+the Moorish faith,--even," she added, "with too fierce a zeal."
+
+"Thou dost not share that zeal, then?  Well, worships he in secret after
+the Christian rites?"
+
+Leila hung her head and answered not.
+
+"I understand thy silence.  And in what belief, maiden, wert thou reared
+beneath his roof?"
+
+"I know not what it is called among men," answered Leila, with firmness,
+"but it is the faith of the ONE GOD, who protects His chosen, and shall
+avenge their wrongs--the God who made earth and heaven; and who, in an
+idolatrous and benighted world, transmitted the knowledge of Himself and
+His holy laws, from age to age, through the channel of one solitary
+people, in the plains of Palestine, and by the waters of the Hebron."
+
+"And in that faith thou wert trained, maiden, by thy father?" said the
+Dominican, calmly.  "I am satisfied.  Rest here, in peace: we may meet
+again, soon."
+
+The last words were spoken with a soft and tranquil smile--a smile in
+which glazing eyes and agonising hearts had often beheld the ghastly omen
+of the torture and the stake.
+
+On quitting the unfortunate Leila, the monk took his way towards the
+neighbouring tent of Ferdinand.  But, ere he reached it, a new thought
+seemed to strike the holy man; he altered the direction of his steps, and
+gained one of those little shrines common in Catholic countries, and
+which had been hastily built of wood, in the centre of a small copse, and
+by the side of a brawling rivulet, towards the back of the king's
+pavilion.  But one solitary sentry, at the entrance of the copse, guarded
+the consecrated place; and its exceeding loneliness and quiet were a
+grateful contrast to the animated world of the surrounding camp.  The
+monk entered the shrine, and fell down on his knees before an image of
+the Virgin, rudely sculptured, indeed, but richly decorated.
+
+"Ah, Holy Mother!" groaned this singular man, "support me in the trial to
+which I am appointed.  Thou knowest that the glory of thy blessed Son is
+the sole object for which I live, and move, and have my being; but at
+times, alas! the spirit is infected with the weakness of the flesh.  Ora
+pro nobis, O Mother of mercy!  Verily, oftentimes my heart sinks within
+me when it is mine to vindicate the honour of thy holy cause against the
+young and the tender, the aged and the decrepit.  But what are beauty and
+youth, grey hairs and trembling knees, in the eye of the Creator?
+Miserable worms are we all; nor is there anything acceptable in the
+Divine sight but the hearts of the faithful.  Youth without faith, age
+without belief, purity without grace, virtue without holiness, are only
+more hideous by their seeming beauty--whited sepulchres, glittering
+rottenness.  I know this--I know it; but the human man is strong within
+me.  Strengthen me, that I pluck it out; so that, by diligent and
+constant struggle with the feeble Adam, thy servant may be reduced into
+a mere machine, to punish the godless and advance the Church."
+
+Here sobs and tears choked the speech of the Dominican; he grovelled in
+the dust, he tore his hair, he howled aloud: the agony was fierce upon
+him.  At length, he drew from his robe a whip, composed of several
+thongs, studded with small and sharp nails; and, stripping his gown, and
+the shirt of hair worn underneath, over his shoulders, applied the
+scourge to the naked flesh with a fury that soon covered the green sward
+with the thick and clotted blood.  The exhaustion which followed this
+terrible penance seemed to restore the senses of the stern fanatic.  A
+smile broke over the features, that bodily pain only released from the
+anguished expression of mental and visionary struggles; and, when he
+rose, and drew the hair-cloth shirt over the lacerated and quivering
+flesh, he said--"Now hast thou deigned to comfort and visit me, O pitying
+Mother; and, even as by these austerities against this miserable body, is
+the spirit relieved and soothed, so dost thou typify and betoken that
+men's bodies are not to be spared by those who seek to save souls and
+bring the nations of the earth into thy fold."
+
+With that thought the countenance of Torquemada reassumed its wonted
+rigid and passionless composure; and, replacing the scourge, yet clotted
+with blood, in his bosom, he pursued his way to the royal tent.
+
+He found Ferdinand poring over the accounts of the vast expenses of his
+military preparations, which he had just received from his treasurer; and
+the brow of the thrifty, though ostentatious monarch, was greatly
+overcast by the examination.
+
+"By the Bulls of Guisando!" said the king, gravely, "I purchase the
+salvation of my army in this holy war at a marvellous heavy price; and
+if the infidels hold out much longer, we shalt have to pawn our very
+patrimony of Arragon."
+
+"Son," answered the Dominican, "to purposes like thine fear not that
+Providence itself will supply the worldly means.  But why doubtest thou?
+are not the means within thy reach?  It is just that thou alone shouldst
+not support the wars by which Christendom is glorified.  Are there not
+others?"
+
+"I know what thou wouldst say, father," interrupted the king, quickly--
+"thou wouldst observe that my brother monarchs should assist me with arms
+and treasure.  Most just.  But they are avaricious and envious, Tomas;
+and Mammon hath corrupted them."
+
+"Nay, not to kings pointed my thought."
+
+"Well, then," resumed the king, impatiently, "thou wouldst imply that
+mine own knights and nobles should yield up their coffers, and mortgage
+their possessions.  And so they ought; but they murmur already at what
+they have yielded to our necessities."
+
+"And in truth," rejoined the friar, "these noble warriors should not be
+shorn of a splendour that well becomes the valiant champions of the
+Church.  Nay, listen to me, son, and I may suggest a means whereby, not
+the friends, but enemies, of the Catholic faith shall contribute to the
+down fall of the Paynim.  In thy dominions, especially those newly won,
+throughout Andalusia, in the kingdom of Cordova, are men of enormous
+wealth; the very caverns of the earth are sown with the impious treasure
+they have plundered from Christian hands, and consume in the furtherance
+of their iniquity.  Sire, I speak of the race that crucified the Lord."
+
+"The Jews--ay, but the excuse--"
+
+"Is before thee.  This traitor, with whom thou boldest intercourse, who
+vowed to thee to render up Granada, and who was found the very next
+morning, fighting with the Moors, with the blood of a Spanish martyr red
+upon his hands, did he not confess that his fathers were of that hateful
+race? did he not bargain with thee to elevate his brethren to the rank of
+Christians? and has be not left with thee, upon false pretences, a harlot
+of his faith, who, by sorcery and the help of the Evil One, hath seduced
+into frantic passion the heart of the heir of the most Christian king?"
+
+"Ha! thus does that libertine boy ever scandalise us!" said the king,
+bitterly.
+
+"Well," pursued the Dominican, not heeding the interruption, "have you
+not here excuse enough to wring from the whole race the purchase of their
+existence?  Note the glaring proof of this conspiracy of hell.  The
+outcasts of the earth employed this crafty agent to contract with thee
+for power; and, to consummate their guilty designs, the arts that seduced
+Solomon are employed against thy son.  The beauty of the strange woman
+captivates his senses; so that, through the future sovereign of Spain the
+counsels of Jewish craft may establish the domination of Jewish ambition.
+How knowest thou," he added as he observed that Ferdinand listened to him
+with earnest attention--"how knowest thou but what the next step might
+have been thy secret assassination, so that the victim of witchcraft, the
+minion of the Jewess, might reign in the stead of the mighty and
+unconquerable Ferdinand?"
+
+"Go on, father," said the king, thoughtfully; "I see, at least, enough to
+justify an impost upon these servitors of Mammon."
+
+"But, though common sense suggests to us," continued Torquemada, "that
+this disguised Israelite could not have acted on so vast a design without
+the instigation of his brethren, not only in Granada, but throughout all
+Andalusia,--would it not be right to obtain from him his confession, and
+that of the maiden, within the camp, so that we may have broad and
+undeniable evidence, whereon to act, and to still all cavil, that may
+come not only from the godless, but even from the too tender scruples of
+the righteous?  Even the queen--whom the saints ever guard!--hath ever
+too soft a heart for these infidels; and--"
+
+"Right!" cried the king, again breaking upon Torquemada; "Isabel, the
+queen of Castile, must be satisfied of the justice of all our actions."
+
+"And, should it be proved that thy throne or life were endangered, and
+that magic was exercised to entrap her royal son into a passion for a
+Jewish maiden, which the Church holds a crime worthy of excommunication
+itself, surely, instead of counteracting, she would assist our schemes."
+
+"Holy friend," said Ferdinand, with energy, "ever a comforter, both for
+this world and the next, to thee, and to the new powers intrusted to
+thee, we commit this charge; see to it at once; time presses--Granada is
+obstinate--the treasury waxes low."
+
+"Son, thou hast said enough," replied the Dominican, closing his eyes,
+and muttering a short thanksgiving.  "Now then to my task."
+
+"Yet stay," said the king, with an altered visage; "follow me to my
+oratory within: my heart is heavy, and I would fain seek the solace of
+the confessional."
+
+The monk obeyed: and while Ferdinand, whose wonderful abilities were
+mingled with the weakest superstition, who persecuted from policy, yet
+believed, in his own heart, that he punished but from piety,--confessed
+with penitent tears the grave offences of aves forgotten, and beads
+untold; and while the Dominican admonished, rebuked, or soothed,--neither
+prince nor monk ever dreamt that there was an error to confess in, or a
+penance to be adjudged to, the cruelty that tortured a fellow-being, or
+the avarice that sought pretences for the extortion of a whole people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE TRIBUNAL AND THE MIRACLE
+
+It was the dead of night--the army was hushed in sleep--when four
+soldiers belonging to the Holy Brotherhood, bearing with them one whose
+manacles proclaimed him a prisoner, passed in steady silence to a huge
+tent in the neighbourhood of the royal pavilion.  A deep dyke, formidable
+barricadoes, and sentries stationed at frequent intervals, testified the
+estimation in which the safety of this segment of the camp was held.  The
+tent to which the soldiers approached was, in extent, larger than even
+the king's pavilion itself--a mansion of canvas, surrounded by a wide
+wall of massive stones; and from its summit gloomed, in the clear and
+shining starlight, a small black pennant, on which was wrought a white
+broad-pointed cross.  The soldiers halted at the gate in the wall,
+resigned their charge, with a whispered watchword, to two gaunt sentries;
+and then (relieving the sentries who proceeded on with the prisoner)
+remained, mute and motionless, at the post: for stern silence and Spartan
+discipline were the attributes of the brotherhood of St. Hermandad.
+
+The prisoner, as he now neared the tent, halted a moment, looked round
+steadily, as if to fix the spot in his remembrance, and then, with an
+impatient though stately gesture, followed his guards.  He passed two
+divisions of the tent, dimly lighted, and apparently deserted.  A man,
+clad in long black robes, with a white cross on his breast, now appeared;
+there was an interchange of signals in dumb-show-and in another moment
+Almamen, the Hebrew, stood within a large chamber (if so that division of
+the tent might be called) hung with black serge.  At the upper part of
+the space was an estrado, or platform, on which, by a long table, sat
+three men; while at the head of the board was seen the calm and rigid
+countenance of Tomas de Torquemada.  The threshold of the tent was
+guarded by two men, in garments similar in hue and fashion to those of
+the figure who had ushered Almamen into the presence of the inquisitor,
+each bearing a long lance, and with a long two-edged sword by his side.
+This made all the inhabitants of that melancholy and ominous apartment.
+
+The Israelite looked round with a pale brow, but a flashing and scornful
+eye; and, when he met the gaze of the Dominican, it almost seemed as if
+those two men, each so raised above his fellows, by the sternness of his
+nature and the energy of his passions, sought by a look alone to assert
+his own supremacy and crush his foe.  Yet, in truth, neither did justice
+to the other; and the indignant disdain of Almamen was retorted by the
+cold and icy contempt of the Dominican.
+
+"Prisoner," said Torquemada (the first to withdraw his gaze), "a less
+haughty and stubborn demeanour might have better suited thy condition:
+but no matter; our Church is meek and humble.  We have sent for thee in a
+charitable and paternal hope; for although, as spy and traitor, thy life
+is already forfeited, yet would we fain redeem and spare it to
+repentance.  That hope mayst thou not forego, for the nature of all of us
+is weak and clings to life--that straw of the drowning seaman."
+
+"Priest, if such thou art," replied the Hebrew, "I have already, when
+first brought to this camp, explained the causes of my detention amongst
+the troops of the Moor.  It was my zeal for the king of Spain that
+brought me into that peril.  Escaping from that peril, incurred in his
+behalf, is the king of Spain to be my accuser and my judge?  If, however,
+my life now be sought as the grateful return for the proffer of
+inestimable service, I stand here to yield it.  Do thy worst; and tell
+thy master, that he loses more by my death than he can win by the lives
+of thirty thousand warriors."
+
+"Cease this idle babble," said the monk-inquisitor, contemptuously, "nor
+think thou couldst ever deceive, with thy empty words, the mighty
+intellect of Ferdinand of Spain.  Thou hast now to defend thyself against
+still graver charges than those of treachery to the king whom thou didst
+profess to serve.  Yea, misbeliever as thou art, it is thine to vindicate
+thyself from blasphemy against the God thou shouldst adore.  Confess the
+truth: thou art of the tribe and faith of Israel?"
+
+The Hebrew frowned darkly.  "Man," said he, solemnly, "is a judge of the
+deeds of men, but not of their opinions.  I will not answer thee."
+
+"Pause!  We have means at hand that the strongest nerves and the stoutest
+hearts have failed to encounter.  Pause--confess!"
+
+"Thy threat awes me not," said the Hebrew; "but I am human; and since
+thou wouldst know the truth, thou mayst learn it without the torture.
+I am of the same race as the apostles of thy Church--I am a Jew."
+
+"He confesses--write down the words.  Prisoner, thou hast done wisely;
+and we pray the Lord that, acting thus, thou mayst escape both the
+torture and the death.  And in that faith thy daughter was reared?
+Answer."
+
+"My daughter! there is no charge against her!  By the God of Sinai and
+Horeb, you dare not touch a hair of that innocent head!"
+
+"Answer," repeated the inquisitor, coldly.
+
+"I do answer.  She was brought up no renegade to her father's faith."
+
+"Write down the confession.  Prisoner," resumed the Dominican, after a
+pause, "but few more questions remain; answer them truly, and thy life is
+saved.  In thy conspiracy to raise thy brotherhood of Andalusia to power
+and influence--or, as thou didst craftily term it, to equal laws with the
+followers of our blessed Lord; in thy conspiracy (by what dark arts I
+seek not now to know _protege nos, beate Domine_!) to entangle in wanton
+affections to thy daughter the heart of the Infant of Spain-silence, I
+say--be still! in this conspiracy, thou wert aided, abetted, or
+instigated by certain Jews of Andalusia--"
+
+"Hold, priest!" cried Almamen, impetuously, "thou didst name my child.
+Do I hear aright?  Placed under the sacred charge of a king, and a belted
+knight, has she--oh!  answer me, I implore thee--been insulted by the
+licentious addresses of one of that king's own lineage?  Answer!  I am a
+Jew--but I am a father and a man."
+
+"This pretended passion deceives us not," said the Dominican, who,
+himself cut off from the ties of life, knew nothing of their power.
+"Reply to the question put to thee: name thy accomplices."
+
+"I have told thee all.  Thou hast refused to answer one.  I scorn and
+defy thee: my lips are closed."
+
+The Grand Inquisitor glanced to his brethren, and raised his hand.  His
+assistants whispered each other; one of them rose, and disappeared behind
+the canvas at the back of the tent.  Presently the hangings were
+withdrawn; and the prisoner beheld an, interior chamber, hung with
+various instruments the nature of which was betrayed by their very shape;
+while by the rack, placed in the centre of that dreary chamber, stood a
+tall and grisly figure, his arms bare, his eyes bent, as by an instinct,
+on the prisoner.
+
+Almamen gazed at these dread preparations with an unflinching aspect.
+The guards at the entrance of the tent approached: they struck off the
+fetters from his feet and hands; they led him towards the appointed place
+of torture.
+
+Suddenly the Israelite paused.
+
+"Priest," said he, in a more humble accent than he had yet assumed, "the
+tidings that thou didst communicate to me respecting the sole daughter of
+my house and love bewildered and confused me for the moment.  Suffer me
+but for a single moment to recollect my senses, and I will answer without
+compulsion all thou mayst ask.  Permit thy questions to be repeated."
+
+The Dominican, whose cruelty to others seemed to himself sanctioned by
+his own insensibility to fear, and contempt for bodily pain, smiled with
+bitter scorn at the apparent vacillation and weakness of the prisoner:
+but, as he delighted not in torture merely for torture's sake, he
+motioned to the guards to release the Israelite; and replied in a voice
+unnaturally mild and kindly, considering the circumstances of the scene,
+
+"Prisoner, could we save thee from pain, even by the anguish of our own
+flesh and sinews, Heaven is our judge that we would willingly undergo the
+torture which, with grief and sorrow, we ordained to thee.  Pause--take
+breath--collect thyself.  Three minutes shalt thou have to consider what
+course to adopt ere we repeat the question.  But then beware how thou
+triflest with our indulgence."
+
+"It suffices--I thank thee," said the Hebrew, with a touch of gratitude
+in his voice.  As he spoke he bent his face within his bosom, which he
+covered, as in profound meditation, with the folds of his long robe.
+Scarcely half the brief time allowed him had expired, when he again
+lifted his countenance and, as he did so, flung back his garment.  The
+Dominican uttered a loud cry; the guards started back in awe.  A
+wonderful change had come over the intended victim; he seemed to stand
+amongst them literally--wrapt in fire; flames burst from his lip, and
+played with his long locks, as, catching the glowing hue, they curled
+over his shoulders like serpents of burning light: blood-red were his
+breast and limbs, his haughty crest, and his outstretched arm; and as for
+a single moment, he met the shuddering eyes of his judges, he seemed,
+indeed, to verify all the superstitions of the time--no longer the
+trembling captive but the mighty demon or the terrible magician.
+
+The Dominican was the first to recover his self-possession.  "Seize the
+enchanter!" he exclaimed; but no man stirred.  Ere yet the exclamation
+had died on his lip, Almamen took from his breast a phial, and dashed it
+on the ground--it broke into a thousand shivers: a mist rose over the
+apartment--it spread, thickened, darkened, as a sudden night; the lamps
+could not pierce it.  The luminous form of the Hebrew grew dull and dim,
+until it vanished in the shade.  On every eye blindness seemed to fall.
+There was a dead silence, broken by a cry and a groan; and when, after
+some minutes, the darkness gradually dispersed, Almamen was gone.  One,
+of the guards lay bathed in blood upon the ground; they raised him: he
+had attempted to seize the prisoner, and had been stricken with a mortal
+wound.  He died as he faltered forth the explanation.  In the confusion
+and dismay of the scene none noticed, till long afterwards, that the
+prisoner had paused long enough to strip the dying guard of his long
+mantle; a proof that he feared his more secret arts might not suffice to
+bear him safe through the camp, without the aid of worldly stratagem.
+
+"The fiend hath been amongst us!" said the Dominican, solemnly falling on
+his knees,--"let us pray!"
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, LEILA BY LYTTON, V2 ***
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