er of consummate vigor and activity. He
immediately sent couriers to the alcaydes of the neighboring fortresses,
to Herman Carrello, captain of a body of the Holy Brotherhood, and to
certain knights of the order of Alcantara. Puerto Carrero was the first
to take the field. Knowing the hard and hungry service of these border
scampers, he made every man take a hearty repast and see that his horse
was well shod and perfectly appointed. Then, all being refreshed and in
valiant heart, he sallied forth to seek the Moors. He had but a handful
of men, the retainers of his household and troops of his captaincy, but
they were well armed and mounted, and accustomed to the sudden rouses
of the border--men whom the cry of "Arm and out! to horse and to the
field!" was sufficient at any time to put in a fever of animation.

While the northern part of Andalusia was thus on the alert, one of the
scouts had hastened southward to the city of Xeres, and given the alarm
to the valiant marques of Cadiz. When the marques heard that the Moor
was over the border and that the standard of Malaga was in the advance,
his heart bounded with a momentary joy, for he remembered the massacre
in the mountains, where his valiant brothers had been mangled before
his eyes. The very authors of his calamity were now at hand, and he
flattered himself that the day of vengeance had arrived. He made a hasty
levy of his retainers and of the fighting men of Xeres, and hurried
off with three hundred horse and two hundred foot, all resolute men and
panting for revenge.

In the mean time, the veteran Bexir had accomplished his march, as
he imagined, undiscovered. From the openings of the craggy defiles he
pointed out the fertile plains of Andalusia, and regaled the eyes of
his soldiery with the rich country they were about to ravage. The fierce
Gomeres of Ronda were flushed with joy at the sight, and even their
steeds seemed to prick up their ears and snuff the breeze as they beheld
the scenes of their frequent forays.

When they came to where the mountain-defile opened into the low land,
Bexir divided his force into three parts: one, composed of foot-soldiers
and such as were weakly mounted, he left to guard the pass, being too
experienced a veteran not to know the importance of securing a retreat;
a second body he placed in ambush among the groves and thickets on the
banks of the river Lopera; the third, consisting of light cavalry, he
sent forth to ravage the Cam