grasp upon his enemy. "Think not,"
cried he, "thou hast an easy prize; know that I am Don Alonso, he of
Aguilar!"--"If thou art Don Alonso," replied the Moor, "know that I am
El Feri of Ben Estepar." They continued their deadly struggle, and
both drew their daggers, but Don Alonso was exhausted by seven ghastly
wounds: while he was yet struggling his heroic soul departed from his
body, and he expired in the grasp of the Moor.

Thus fell Alonso de Aguilar, the mirror of Andalusian chivalry--one
of the most powerful grandees of Spain for person, blood, estate, and
office. For forty years he had made successful war upon the Moors--in
childhood by his household and retainers, in manhood by the prowess of
his arm and in the wisdom and valor of his spirit. His pennon had always
been foremost in danger; he had been general of armies, viceroy of
Andalusia, and the author of glorious enterprises in which kings were
vanquished and mighty alcaydes and warriors laid low. He had slain many
Moslem chiefs with his own arm, and among others the renowned Ali Atar
of Loxa, fighting foot to foot, on the banks of the Xenil. His judgment,
discretion, magnanimity, and justice vied with his prowess. He was the
fifth lord of his warlike house that fell in battle with the Moors.

"His soul," observes the worthy Padre Abarca, "it is believed, ascended
to heaven to receive the reward of so Christian a captain; for that
very day he had armed himself with the sacraments of confession and
communion."*

* Abarca, Anales de Aragon, Rey xxx. cap. ii.

The Moors, elated with their success, pursued the fugitive Christians
down the defiles and sides of the mountains. It was with the utmost
difficulty that the count de Urena could bring off a remnant of his
forces from that disastrous height. Fortunately, on the lower slope of
the mountain they found the rear-guard of the army, led by the count
de Cifuentes, who had crossed the brook and the ravine to come to their
assistance. As the fugitives came flying in headlong terror down the
mountain it was with difficulty the count kept his own troops from
giving way in panic and retreating in confusion across the brook. He
succeeded, however, in maintaining order, in rallying the fugitives,
and checking the fury of the Moors; then, taking his station on a rocky
eminence, he maintained his post until morning, sometimes sustaining
violent attacks, at other times rushing forth and making assaults upon
t