offers?"

"Noble prince," said Gonzalvo, earnestly, "ask us not to wound thine ears
with the alternative. Pause, and consider of our offers; and, if thou
doubtest, O brave king! mount the towers of thine Alhambra, survey our
legions marshalled beneath thy walls, and turn thine eyes upon a brave
people, defeated, not by human valour, but by famine, and the inscrutable
will of God."

"Your monarchs shall have our answer, gentle Christian, perchance ere
nightfall. And you, Sir Knight, who hast delivered a message bitter for
kings to bear, receive, at least, our thanks for such bearing as might
best mitigate the import. Our vizier will bear to your apartment those
tokens of remembrance that are yet left to the monarch of Granada to
bestow."

"Muza," resumed the king, as the Spaniards left the presence--"thou hast
heard all. What is the last counsel thou canst give thy sovereign?"

The fierce Moor had with difficulty waited this licence to utter such
sentiments as death only could banish from that unconquerable heart. He
rose, descended from the couch, and, standing a little below the king,
and facing the motley throng of all of wise or brave yet left to Granada,
thus spoke:--

"Why should we surrender? two hundred thousand inhabitants are yet within
our walls; of these, twenty thousand, at least, are Moors, who have hands
and swords. Why should we surrender? Famine presses us, it is true; but
hunger, that makes the lion more terrible, shall it make the man more
base? Do ye despair? so be it! despair in the valiant ought to have an