active and vigilant in collecting his tolls."

The brave alcayde relished the stern soldier-like pleasantry of the
old Moorish monarch. He ordered a rich silken vest and a scarlet
mantle to be given to the alfaqui, and dismissed him with great
courtesy. "Tell His Majesty," said he, "that I kiss his hands for
the honor he has done me, and regret that my scanty force has not
permitted me to give him a more signal reception on his coming
into these parts. Had three hundred horsemen, whom I have been
promised from Xeres, arrived in time, I might have served up an
entertainment more befitting such a monarch. I trust, however, they
will arrive in the course of the night, in which case His Majesty
may be sure of a royal regale in the dawning."

Muley Abul Hassan shook his head when he received the reply of De
Vargas. "Allah preserve us," said he, "from any visitation of these
hard riders of Xeres! A handful of troops acquainted with the wild
passes of these mountains may destroy an army encumbered as ours
is with booty."

It was some relief to the king, however, to learn that the hardy
alcayde of Gibraltar was too severely wounded to take the field in
person. He immediately beat a retreat with all speed before the
close of day, hurrying with such precipitation that the cavalgada
was frequently broken and scattered among the rugged defiles of
the mountains, and above five thousand of the cattle turned back
and were regained by the Christians. Muley Abul Hassan returned
triumphantly with the residue to Malaga, glorying in the spoils of
the duke of Medina Sidonia.