kinds of information important to the security of the frontier. One
of these spies came to him one day in his town of Marchena, and
informed him that the Moorish town of Alhama was slightly garrisoned
and negligently guarded, and might be taken by surprise. This was a
large, wealthy, and populous place within a few leagues of Granada.
It was situated on a rocky height, nearly surrounded by a river, and
defended by a fortress to which there was no access but by a steep
and cragged ascent. The strength of its situation and its being
embosomed in the centre of the kingdom had produced the careless
security which now invited attack.

To ascertain fully the state of the fortress the marques despatched
secretly a veteran soldier who was highly in his confidence. His
name was Ortega de Prado, a man of great activity, shrewdness,
and valor, and captain of escaladors (soldiers employed to scale the
walls of fortresses in time of attack). Ortega approached Alhama
one moonless night, and paced along its walls with noiseless step,
laying his ear occasionally to the ground or to the wall. Every time
he distinguished the measured tread of a sentinel, and now and
then the challenge of the night-watch going its rounds. Finding the
town thus guarded, he clambered to the castle: there all was silent.
As he ranged its lofty battlements between him and the sky he saw
no sentinel on duty. He noticed certain places where the wall might
be ascended by scaling-ladders, and, having marked the hour of
relieving guard and made all necessary observations, he retired
without being discovered.

Ortega returned to Marchena, and assured the marques of Cadiz of
the practicability of scaling the castle of Alhama and taking it by
surprise. The marques had a secret conference with Don Pedro