`He must, in the ardor of pursuit,
have wandered from them. No doubt they
are seeking him still on the mountain.'

`Yes. Hear that winding bugle. I
have heard it twice before, but mistook it
for the lowing of kine. They still seek
him.'

`Genilla, whether the wounded Moor
be an Emir or not, I am ignorant. He
is a Moor, which is the same to me.—
Were he a water-carrier of Cordova, he
should be as sacredly my guest. But I
do not wish his followors to find him in
my cabin. It is a quiet home into which
the foot of the Saracen has never yet intruded.
So, if to-night those who seek
him should pass this way by the tower
aud ask for him, let it not be known that
you know where he is.'

`What shall I answer them?'

`Say you have not seen him?'

`But they ought to know their Prince
is safe, though wounded.'

`Send them not to my quiet home to
seek him. Father Godfrey says that in
three days he will be restored to health.
He shall then depart. I will guide him
to Cordova in safety. For thy sake he
shall go free, were he the Imperial Caliph
of Damascus.'

`I will obey you, Alfonso.'

Thanks. Thou knowest that I have a
fair and dearly loved sister. Her beauty
in these dangerous times is her greatest
snare. Let the eyes of any of these
Saracen knights light upon her modest
beauty, and the sweet flower of my humble
home would be plucked, though I
should perish in her defence. Send them
not thither, Genilla, if thou lovest me!'

`I will not, Alfonzo.'

`Thanks. Three days away from
Cordova will not be long. I would show
him how a Christian peasant can show
hospitality to a Moorish prince, if prince
he be, as he may be, for he had princely
bearing with him.'

`None but the descendants of the
prophet wear the green turban, and only
a Prince of the line, the signet graven
with a key, the insignia of the Morisco
Empire.'

`Be it so. There sounds afar off another
bugle. Sound on Infidel; thy leader
sleeps soundly and hears thee not.'

`Hist. There are footsteps. It is my
father and the hermit. See, they walk
forth together. They take leave of each
other with ceremony, and he departs.'

`How strange. May it not be that
Ben Osmin is a Christian?'

`My father false to his faith,' repeated
the maiden, with a haughty air. `Sooner,
Alfonzo, wilt thou find Genilla false to
thee.'

`And yet thou art false to me, sweet
Genilla, so long as thou refusest to become
a Christian. But hither comes Ben
Osmin. Shall I meet him boldly? He
knows I love thee.'

`And he hath forbidden me on pain of
death to hold interview with thee.'

`I will defend thee.'

`What. Draw thy steel against my
father? Retire within the shadow of the
rock. You cannot pass him unseen.
Wert thou only a Moslem, Alfonzo,' she
said, reproachfully, `this secresy need
not be. Hide quickly?'

Alfonzo drew back half a dozen steps
so that the acacia, aided by a projection
in the rock, effectually concealed his per
son to the eye of a casval observer. The
beautiful Moorish girl then advanced to
meet her father who was calling her by
name.

`Ho, Genilla. Where art thou, child?

`Here, father.'

`Allah be praised,' ejaculated the old
man, as he came forward. He was a
short fleshy man, in a huge white turban,
a black kaftan, and red sash in which was
stuck a yataghan. His trowsers were of
white linen of the amplest volume about
the red slippered feet. Ben Osmin was
a Mooor by birth, and had been captain
of a galley in the fleet which brought
over Taric and his army twenty years before.
He gained great fame and some
wealth in the taking of Cordova, and settled
down to enjoy himself after his wars
on land and his perils by flood. He was
a person of cheerful temper, and had a
rare talent at making the most of the
sources of happiness in his way. He
was a bachelor, that is, he had no harem,
for he had a great horror of a sex that
had no souls, and to whom the Prophet
denied even a corner in Paradise.

But one day, as Ben Osmin sat upon
his Divan, thinking of nothing in particular,
as was his custom, (for pipe smoking

[figure description] Page 021.[end figure description]

in that early age was unknown,) and sipping
sherbert through a silver tube, a slippered
Moor in blue caftan and soiled turban
came near and said,

`Salaam, Ben Osmin. Here is a bale
of rich shawls the Mufti hath sent thee
for thy valour in the wars in defence of
the true faith.'

`Allah be praised, and Paradise be to
the Mufti and all his generations,' answered
Ben Osmin. `Take this gold plece
and say the words I have spoken to the
Mufti.

The slave departed hastily, thrusting
the gold piece into his girdle as he went
out. Ben Osmin now fixed his eyes upon
the bale of shawls with glances of mingled
admiration and delight. The size
of the bale, the beauty of the covering,
the courtesy of the Mufti, and the
reflection that his bravery was remembered,
made his eyes sparkle, and overflowed
his heart with joy and universal
benevolence.

`Allah be praised.' God is God,' he
ejaculated more than seven times, with
an interval of at least three minutes between
each ejaculation. At length he
laid aside his sherbet tube, and clapped
his hands thrice. An African slave in
white turban and white tunic entered,
and bowed reverently before Ben Osmin
his master.

`Hussan, thou seest that bale of rich
shawls! It is a present from the Mufti,
the defender of the Faith, to me Ben Osmin
in consideration of the skulls of
Christians I have cloven through in my
days of valour. Unloose the cords. Let
me feast my eyes on the gift of the Mufti
Allah be praised forever.'

The African approached the bale of
shawls, and undoing the cords by which
it was bound cast them aside, and then
unrolled the outer shawl.

`Beard of the Prophet! what have we
there?' cried the amazed Ben Osmin, as
the removal of the shawl revealed a wicker
basket open at the top, in which lay fast
asleep a sweet little infant about a month
old. The slave fell back in amazement,
and showed his glittering teeth from ear
to ear, while the warlike Moor stroked his
beard several times with rapidity and
ejaculated,

`Allah be praised! Hussuf what seest
thou?'

`An infant, Effendi!'

`By the harem of the Soldan—how is
it that my bale of shawls hath turned into
the child of a woman! God is good!—
What must be, is to be. Allah be
praised!'

With these exclamations of astonishment,
the Moor bade Hussuf to take the
babe out of the basket, that he might look
at it the closer.

`Mishallah!' he cried, `it is fair to
look upon, though something small; but
please Allah it will grow. What is that
in the bottom of the basket?' he cried,
pointing to a piece of parchment, on
which were traced certain characters in
Arabic. `Place it in my hands!'

The slave obeyed, and Ben Osmin read
as follows:

`To the discreet and brave Ben Osmin,
health and peace, Greeting:—This
gift is sent thee by one who honors thee.
Shawls will decay, and time tarnishes
their beauty; but a soul is immortal.
Let Ben Osmin see that the infant be
cared for, for he himself is a child in the
hand of Allah, and is daily fed from the
stores of his bounty. God is good and
Mahomet is his prophet!'

`Bismillah!' exclaimed Ben Osmin;
`a child is better than a bale of shawls.
Hussuf, seek out a nurse forthwith, lest
it die on my hands, and I have to answer
for its life to Isfrael.'

The slave disappeared on his errand,
and soon returned with the wife of Aben
Hassen, the turban-maker in the next
street, who pledged herself to take charge
of the infant till it should walk for a gold
betsch the month.

`Allah be praised!' said Ben Osmin,
as the woman departed with the babe and
he resumed the silver pipe of his sherbet
cup. `A child is better than a bale of
shawls. I will call it Genilla, and it shall
be a shawl of love to my heart when I
get old.'

So Ben Osmin named the infant Genilla,
which signified a shawl of silk,
and every day he walked to Hassan's
shop to have a sight of his protege, in
which he took increasing interest as it began
to advance to take notice of him, and

[figure description] Page 022.[end figure description]

by and bye to amuse him with its smiles
and prattle.

`Bismallah!' he said one day to Hassan,
`here am I a bachelor, and yet I
have the prettiest daughter in all Andalusia.
Allah be praised!'

The infant Genilla grew apace to girlhood,
and, when she had reached her
twelfth year, gave promise of being the
fairest maiden in Cordova. Old Ben
Osmin worshipped her with pride and
love. But at length the Emir or Imperial
Caliph, who held the government under
the sceptre of the Caliph of Damascus,
the Emperor of all Islam, died. It
was necessary to send to Damascus to
learn who should be his successor. In
the interval, two of the principal Emirs,
who had been generals of Taric the
Conqueror, aspired to the vice-royalty to
govern till the return of the messenger.
This aspiration created two parties in the
city, and, in a severe battle that took
place between them, both were slain.—
But, hydra-like, no less than eleven
Emirs now raised their standards and asserted
their claims to the Caliphate. At
this juncture, Suleyman, who reigned in
Barbary, interposed and appointed Abury
Musa, the nephew of the late Emir, to
hold the reins of government. But in a
few weeks Musa was assassinated by Algezir,
a powerful Emir, and once more
Cordova was the scene of civil war between
the Moors.

At length the new Emir arrived from
Damascus, but only to find his throne in
the hands of Algezir. He raised the
standard of the Prophet against him, and
calling on all good Moslems to rally
around it, he advanced upon Cordova,
and defeating the Emir's forces, eompelled
him to fly to the Sierras for safety.—
He took refuge in the tower beneath
which Ben Osmin now dwelt so peacefully,
and, after enduring a long siege,
was compelled to yield at discretion. As
he was an Emir, and the blood of the
Prophet flowed in his veins, his blood
was not shed, but he was banished to
Africa. The Caliph thus won his throne.

Ben Osmin had joined the Caliph, and
for his instrumentality in bringing about
the capture of the Emir in his tower, he
had been rewarded with the tower by the
Caliph, and a vineyard adjacent. Hither,
therefore, he came to dwell; but, instead
of inhabiting the tower, he constructed,
with great taste, for the comfort of his
foster daughter rather than his own, the
cottage adjoining it: and here for four
years he had been dwelling in peace,
undisturbed by the commotions that from
time to time rended the city. For the
Caliph had not heen two years on his
throne, ere the Emir, Algezir, returned,
raised a standard of rebellion, deposed
him to be in his turn overthrown by a
conspiracy of fourteen Emirs, who, too
jealous to concede power to either singly,
reigned conjointly, but each watching an
opportunity to reign alone.