, and, as he rode, he scarcely
raised his eyes from the ground, but maintained a meek and lowly air.

The arrival of two friars in the camp was not a matter of much note,
for in these holy wars the Church militant continually mingled in the
affray, and helmet and cowl were always seen together; but it was soon
discovered that these worthy saints-errant were from a far country and
on a mission of great import.

They were, in truth, just arrived from the Holy Land, being two of the
saintly men who kept vigil over the sepulchre of our Blessed Lord at
Jerusalem. He of the tall and portly form and commanding presence was
Fray Antonio Millan, prior of the Franciscan convent in the Holy City.
He had a full and florid countenance, a sonorous voice, and was round
and swelling and copious in his periods, like one accustomed to harangue
and to be listened to with deference. His companion was small and spare
in form, pale of visage, and soft and silken and almost whispering in
speech. "He had a humble and lowly way," says Agapida, "evermore bowing
the head, as became one of his calling." Yet he was one of the most
active, zealous, and effective brothers of the convent, and when he
raised his small black eye from the earth there was a keen glance out
of the corner which showed that, though harmless as a dove, he was
nevertheless as wise as a serpent.

These holy men had come on a momentous embassy from the grand soldan of
Egypt, or, as Agapida terms him in the language of the day, the soldan
of Babylon. The league which had been made between that potentate and
his arch-foe the Grand Turk, Bajazet II., to unite in arms for the
salvation of Granada, as has been mentioned in a previous chapter of
this chronicle, had come to naught. The infidel princes had again
taken up arms against each other, and had relapsed into their ancient
hostility. Still, the grand soldan, as head of the whole Moslem
religion, considered himself bound to preserve the kingdom of Granada
from the grasp of unbelievers. He despatched, therefore, these two holy
friars with letters to the Castilian sovereigns, as well as to the pope
and to the king of Naples, remonstrating against the evils done to
the Moors of the kingdom of Granada, who were of his faith and kindred
whereas it was well known that great numbers of Christians were indulged
and protected in the full enjoyment of their property, their liberty,
and their faith in his dominions. He insisted, therefore