The Moor, Ben Osmin, had remained
in quiet at his cottage by the tower during
all the warlike excitement in the city;
and so that he was undisturbed in the society
of Genilla, and in the culture of his
acre of vineyard, he was content, and it
mattered little to him whether one Emir
or twenty held the reigns of government
in Cordova.

`Allah be praised!' he repeated a second
time on beholding his foster daughter
approaching him from the fountain
behind which Alfonzo had concealed
himself. `I was afraid thou hadst wandered
away, and, by the beard of the
Prophet, the neighborhood is none of the
safest for a maiden to trust herself in.—
Hearest thou the bugles of the hunters
among the hills! I would rather they
that blow them would keep there than
come nigher my dovecote. There are
unruly gallants always to be found in an
Emir's hunting train! Hast thou been
lonely, child?' he asked, taking her hand
and addressing her with great kindness,
and a countenance sparkling with the
deep affection of his heart.

`No, father,' she answered, richly
colouring and dropping with slight confusion
the lids of her dark Arabian eyes.

`I am right glad of it, for I had business
that kept me.'

`Business, father? What couldst thou
have to say to the Christian hermit?'

`It is not for thine ears, sweet,' answered
Ben Osmin, smlling. `I ne'er
heard of a woman that could keep a

[figure description] Page 023.[end figure description]

secret. But one day, perhaps, I may tell
thee, but not now.'

`I do not like secrets, father.'

`Then, Mishillah! thou shalt not be
troubled with this.'

`I mean I do not like them when I
dont't know them.'

`Oh, that is it. By the beard of the
Prophet! when thou knowest it, a secret
it is no longer.'

`I will find it out ere long, dear father!
'

`Dost thou threaten me, pretty one?'

`I will ask the hermit Godfrey.'

`Thou?' cried Ben Osmin with alarm.

`I will go up the mountain to his cave
and he will not refuse to tell me,' she
said with playful firmness.

`Daughter, thou must not go near this
Christian monk. Thy words have alarmed
me. Go not nigh him. Pass no words
with him if he cross thy path, if thou hast
reverence or love for me.'

`Is it so serious, then?'

`It is. He might tell thee what I refuse
to tell. It is not good for thee to
know it. Besides, what he says may be
false. I will yet talk further with him
after I have been to Cordova, and then I
may tell thee!'

`Art thou going to Cordova?' cried
the maiden with delight beaming in her
beautiful face. `You will take me with
you, good dear Ben Osmin!' and as she
spoke she entwined her graceful arms
about his bearded throat and kissed his
smooth well-fed cheek with the most
winning temptation. `Do not say no!'

`By the turban of the Prophet, what
can I say?' responded the Moor in perplexity.
`Thou must stay at home. I
have business.'

`It is so lonely here! I have not seen
the city since I was a child.'

`You cannot go, child. The city is in
sight from the tower. Thou seest it daily.'

`But I wish to go there!'

`It is a dangerous time to take thee
there. Any day a revolution may break
out. The Emirs are as jealous of each
other as so many wolves watching a
goat-pen. I should not be surprised to
hear that some one of them had raised
the green standard and proclaimed himself
Supreme Caliph. It would not be
afe for thee there. Besides, I am afraid
of the gay Saracen cavaliers and rampant
Andalusian knights that might rob
me of thee! Praised be Allah! thou art
secure here, and no one of them knoweth
what a treasure is hid here! Don't
ask me, Genilla.'

`I am not afraid of the knights and
cavaliers, father!'

`Bismillah! I would have thee afraid
of them. Thou shalt stay here.'

`If thou leavest me, father, I will go
up the mountain while thou art gone, and
see the Christian Monk.'

`The Prophet knew what he was about
when he shut Paradise against women!
Elbilirah! Thou shalt go with me.—
Allah be praised that is settled!'

`I am so delighted! I shall now see
the beautiful city, the splendid mosques,
the palaces, the knights and cavaliers,
the princes' and ladies. Oh, dear Ben
Osmin, how very happy I shall be. You
are so good.'

`On my soul be it! Three women
like thee would keep a man from Paradise.
'

`When do you go, dear father?' asked
the gazelle-eyed Genilla, as she hung
fondly upon his shoulder.

`I must go early in the morning. I
will ride on horseback, and thou shalt
have the mule accoutred, and amble by
my side.'

`I shall dream only of Cordova all
night, father!'

`We must to our beds, if we are to
start so early. In the city there still
lives old Aben Hassan, the turban-maker,
and I will have thee at his house. It is
retired and out o' the way o' the range
o' the young cavaliers. Come, let us in,
daughter!'

`I will, father, in a moment,' she answered,
slipping back towards the fountain;
`I have left my bracelet on the
stone bench under the acacia.

`How could you drop your bracelet?
But get it and come in, for it is a heavy
dew.'

Genilla did not tell him that her lover
had accidentally unclasped it from her
wrist, for it would have been to betray
his presence which she wished to conceal
from him. She saw her father go
round the cottage to enter it, and then
picking up her bracelet she approached

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Alfonzo, who came forth from his hiding
place, and clasped her hand.

`Now you must go without delay, Alfonzo!
' she said quickly. `If I linger
my father will return, and discover you!
To-morrow night I shall be back from the
city. I shall then see you and have a
great deal to tell you.'

`I would rather you would not go to
Cordova, dearest Genilla,' said Alfonzo,
with a tone of regret at her intention.—
`As Ben Osmin says, it is a dangerous
place for a maiden, so fair as thou art!'

`Jealous already, dear Alfonzo,' said
the Moorish beauty, bearing upon him
her splendid eyes, while her delicate
fingers tapped playfully his cheek.—
`Fear me not! I shall fall in love with
none of the young Emirs at court. Besides,
I am but a poor humble girl, the
daughter of a vintner. I fear not that
any admiring eye will be turned upon
me. I shall be safe in my obscurity, and
the humility of Aben Hassan's house.—
I only wish to gaze on the magnificence
of which I have heard so much, and of
which I retain a girlish memory.'

`I will say no more lest thou shouldst
suppose I fear any knight should look on
thee. If I thought thou lovedst me because
thou hast seen no other man, I
should little prize thy love, Genilla, and
might fear it could be turned from me to
the first jewelled and gay cavalier that
chanced to bend his gaze on the! But
I know thee better, and can trust thee even
in the gay and free city of Cordova!'

`I shall return to value and love thee
more. If thou only wert a follower of
the true faith,—but I see a frown gathering
upon thy brow. We will let faiths
alone. We will love for this world alone;
faiths belong to a hereafter.'

`Not wholly, dear Genilla! But we
will not embitter this brief parting moment
by a subject on which, I fear, we
can never see alike. One day I trust to
see thee turn from a religion which denies
to woman immortality, and embrace
that of the son of Mary, the beloved Virgin
mother, through whom all women are
blessed and honoured evermore. Good
night, love! I will be here again tomorrow
night at this hour!'

`I will see thee at the fountain!'

`Has Ben Osmin spoken about me of
late?'

But once. When he heard how you
had saved three peasants from being torn
to pieces by wolves, he said, `He is a
brave youth, and were he a good musselman,
he would be glad to see thee at the
tower. But since he found us conversing
together in the path at the foot of
the rock, and saw that we liked one another
too well, he forbade me to see you,
as he forbade you to think of me mere.
He is grateful to you for the service you
did me, very grateful, but he can never
forgive you for being a Christian.'

The lovers now parted, and Genilla
entered the cottage, casting many a lingering
look behind, while Alfonzo, with
a thoughtful brow, walked slowly down
the tower hill and descended into the
forest path, in the gloom of which he was
soon threading his way back to the hamlet.

We have alluded to a service done by
Alfonzo to the Moorish maiden, and
which was the foundation of their first
acquaintance and of their love. Alfonzo
had been brought up in the obscure hamlet
of the mountain gorge as a keeper of
goats and gazelles; such being the occupation
of Gaspar, who having fled to
the Sierras from the sword of the Moors,
turned himself to this as a means of subsistence.

Gaspar was a noble of Spain, a man
of uncalculating mind, but of great courage
and integrity. He had lost his possession
with the rest of his caste, and
houseless he fled to the hills with hundreds
of his countrymen. Many perished
from hunger, many secreted themselves
in caves and lived by hunting,
more banded themselves as robbers of
their conquerors, and lived by rapine;
while others joined themselves with the
dwellers of the mountains and became
herdsmen. Among these was Gaspar,
the rough hearted, strong handed noble.
He soon became attached to his occupation,
for there was a certain excitement
in it. Wolves constantly prowled in
packs to way-lay and destroy his charge,
and the fiercer banded exiles of the hills
sallied forth upon his flocks to plunder
them for sustenance. In defending his
herds against wolves and bandits, he won
a name for the prowess that made him

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respected and feared in all the Sierras.—
The fame of Gaspar the Wolf-killer had
reached even the streets and marketplaces
of Cordova.

Trained in such a school, Alfonzo grew
up fearless and skilful, and became a
conqueror in many a fierce contest upon
the monntains with the beasts and robbers
that infested it. Side by side with his
father, and aided only by a huge wolfdog,
he had put to flight and defeated a
band of twelve famished robbers who
had pounced upon his flock; till at length
his herds roamed and browsed with safety
upon the loneliest places of the hills,
while the flocks of others were daily diminished.

At length the mountaineers, unable
longer to endure the ravages upon their
flocks resolved to band together, and hunt
the bandits from their fastnesses in the
Sierras. They assembled to the number
of four score, each attended by his fierce
wolf-dog, a formidable opponent to an
armed man. Over this small but resolute
force they appointed Gaspar as captain,
and Alfonzo as second in command. This
was about six months before the opening
of our story. The expedition was assembled
secretly and went forth secretly. It
was successful. The robbers, taken by
surprise, were defeated in every encounter.
They were driven from their strong
holds, and from the Sierras for several
leagues space. Alfonzo covered himself
with glory by his bravery as well as distinguished
himself by his judgment and
military skill. Gaspar openly confessed
that the whole success of the expedition
was owing to the resolution and courage
of Alfonzo, an assertion to which all the
mountaineers gave their loudest testimony.
The young gazelle-keeper received
their praises with that modesty
which always accompanies true bravery,
and from that hour he was the hero of
the Sierras; and the fame of Alfonzo the
Destroyer, as his enemies, the dispersed
bandits, universally denominated him,
penetrated the palaces of the Emirs, and
his deeds found commendation from the
lips of the youthful Moorish cavaliers that
hung about the court.

Up to this hour Alfonzo had not seen
the fair Moorish maiden who dwelt at the
white kasah beneath the tower of the rock.