whose only load consisted of ropes, to bind the arms of his captives, so
sure was he of making every Arab his prisoner. Driving along the lines he
addressed his troops boldly, and arriving at the centre quitted his
chariot, put on a horned helmet, and mounted his white horse Orelio.

This was before the invention of gunpowder, and all battles were hand to
hand. On the first day the result was doubtful, and Tarik rode through the
Arab ranks, calling on them to fight for their religion and their safety.
As the onset began, Tarik rode furiously at a Spanish chief whom he took
for the king, and struck him down. For a moment it was believed to be the
king whom he had killed, and from that moment new energy was given to the
Arabs. The line of the Spaniards wavered; and at this moment the whole
wing of cavalry to which Luis belonged rode out from its place and passed
on the flank of the army, avoiding both Spaniard and Arab. "What means
this?" said Luis to the horseman by his side. "It means," was the answer,
"that Bishop Oppas is betraying the king." At this moment Don Alonzo rode
up and cheered their march with explanations. "No more," he said, "will we
obey this imbecile old king who can neither fight nor govern. He and his
troops are but so many old women; it is only these Arabs who are men. All
is arranged with Tarik, and we will save our country by joining the only
man who can govern it." Luis groaned in dismay; it seemed to him an act of
despicable treachery; but those around him seemed mostly prepared for it,
and he said to himself, "After all, Don Alonzo is my chief; I must hold by
him;" so he kept with the others, and the whole cavalry wing followed
Oppas to a knoll, whence they watched the fight. It soon became a panic;
the Arabs carried all before them, and the king himself was either killed
or hid himself in a convent.

Many a Spaniard of the seceding wing of cavalry reproached himself
afterwards for what had been done; and while the archbishop had some