measures accordingly, and departed suddenly in the night at the
head of one thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, and urged
his way rapidly by the most unfrequented roads along the chain of
mountains extending from Granada to the heights above Velez Malaga.

The Christians were alarmed one evening by the sudden blazing
of great fires on the mountains about the fortress of Bentomiz. By
the ruddy light they beheld the flash of weapons and the array of
troops, and they heard the distant sound of Moorish drums and
trumpets. The fires of Bentomiz were answered by fires on the towers
of Velez Malaga. The shouts of "El Zagal! El Zagal!" echoed along the
cliffs and resounded from the city, and the Christians found that the
old warrior-king of Granada was on the mountain above the camp.

The spirits of the Moors were suddenly raised to a pitch of the
greatest exultation, while the Christians were astonished to see the
storm of war ready to burst upon their heads. The count de Cabra,
with his accustomed eagerness when there was a king in the field,
would fain have scaled the heights and attacked El Zagal before
he had time to form his camp; but Ferdinand, more cool and wary,
restrained him. To attack the height would be to abandon the siege.
He ordered every one, therefore, to keep a vigilant watch at his
post and stand ready to defend it to the utmost, but on no account
to sally forth and attack the enemy.

All night the signal-fires kept blazing along the mountains, rousing
and animating the whole country. The morning sun rose over the
lofty summit of Bentomiz on a scene of martial splendor. As its rays
glanced down the mountain they lighted up the white tents of the
Christian cavaliers cresting its lower prominences, their pennons