he enemy. When morning dawned the Moors ceased to combat, and drew up
to the summit of the mountain.

It was then that the Christians had time to breathe and to ascertain the
sad loss they had sustained. Among the many valiant cavaliers who had
fallen was Don Francisco Ramirez of Madrid, who had been captain-general
of artillery throughout the war of Granada, and contributed greatly by
his valor and ingenuity to that renowned conquest. But all other griefs
and cares were forgotten in anxiety for the fate of Don Alonso de
Aguilar. His son, Don Pedro de Cordova, had been brought off with great
difficulty from the battle, and afterward lived to be marques of Priego;
but of Don Alonso nothing was known, except that he was left with a
handful of cavaliers fighting valiantly against an overwhelming force.

As the rising sun lighted up the red cliffs of the mountains the
soldiers watched with anxious eyes if perchance his pennon might be
descried fluttering from any precipice or defile, but nothing of the
kind was to be seen. The trumpet-call was repeatedly sounded, but empty
echoes alone replied. A silence reigned about the mountain-summit which
showed that the deadly strife was over. Now and then a wounded warrior
came dragging his feeble steps from among the cliffs and rocks, but on
being questioned he shook his head mournfully and could tell nothing of
the fate of his commander.

The tidings of this disastrous defeat and of the perilous situation of
the survivors reached King Ferdinand at Granada: he immediately marched
at the head of all the chivalry of his court to the mountains of Ronda.
His presence with a powerful force soon put an end to the rebellion.
A part of the Moors were suffered to ransom themselves and embark for
Africa; others were made to embrace Christianity; and those of the town
where the Christian missionaries had been massacred were sold as slaves.
From the conquered Moors the mournful but heroic end of Alonso de
Aguilar was ascertained.

On the morning after the battle, when the Moors came to strip and bury
the dead, the body of Don Alonso was found among those of more than
two hundred of his followers, many of them alcaydes and cavaliers of
distinction. Though the person of Don Alonso was well known to the
Moors, being so distinguished among them both in peace and war, yet it
was so covered and disfigured with wounds that it could with difficulty
be recognized. They preserved it with great care, a