wander the baron's only daughter, Alina. She was
possessed of all the qualities, mental and physical, which went towards
making the daughter of a feudal lord desired in marriage by all the
gallants of the day; and as she was heiress to large estates, these
would have been considered a sufficient prize without the said
qualities. But Alina, for all this, was not happy, for she was enamoured
of a handsome chief, who, unfortunately, wore the distinctive almexia,
which proved him to be a Moor, and, consequently, not a fit suitor for
the daughter of a Christian baron.

"My father," she would often soliloquize, "is kind to me, and professes
to be a Christian. My lover, as a follower of the Prophet, hates my
father, but, as a man, he loves me. For me he says he will do anything;
yet, when I ask him to become a Christian, he answers me that he will do
so if I can prevail on my father to so far conform with the Christian
law as to take the thirty-three baths; and this my father will not do.
What am I to do? He would rather fight the demon than obey the saint."

One day, however, she resolved on telling her father about her courtship
with the young chief, Al-Muli, and of the only condition he made, on
which depended his becoming a convert to Christianity, which so
infuriated the baron that, in his anger, he declared himself willing to
meet the demon in mortal combat, hoping thus to free the world of him
and of the necessity of taking the thirty-three baths.

This so much distressed Alina, that when, during the afternoon of the
same day, Al-Muli met her in the arbour, she disclosed to him her firm
resolution of entering a convent, and spending the rest of her days
there.

"This shall not be!" cried Al-Muli; and, seizing her round the waist, he
lifted her on to his shoulder, sped through the baronial grounds, and,
having waded through the ditch, placed her on the albarda of his horse
and galloped away.

Alina was so frightened that she could not scream, and she silently
resigned herself to her fate, trusting in the honour of her lover.

The alcazar, or palace, of Al-Muli was situated on the Spanish side of
the frontier; and, as they approached the principal gate, the almocadem,
or captain of the guard, hurried to receive his master, who instructed
him to send word to his mother that he desired of her to receive and
look after Alina. This done, he assisted his bride elect to dismount,
and, with a veil hiding her lovely featur