label was found upon it importing that it was
intended for the Queen.

Nothing could equal the indignation of the Christian warriors at the
insolence of the bravado and the discourteous insult offered to the
Queen. Hernando Perez del Pulgar, surnamed "he of the exploits," was
present, and resolved not to be outbraved by this daring infidel. "Who
will stand by me," said he, "in an enterprise of desperate peril?" The
Christian cavaliers well knew the harebrained valor of Hernando del
Pulgar, yet not one hesitated to step forward. He chose fifteen
companions, all men of powerful arm and dauntless heart. In the dead
of the night he led them forth from the camp, and approached the city
cautiously, until he arrived at a postern-gate, which opened upon the
Darro and was guarded by foot-soldiers. The guards, little thinking of
such an unwonted and partial attack, were for the most part asleep.
The gate was forced, and a confused and chance-medley skirmish ensued;
Hernando del Pulgar stopped not to take part in the affray; putting spurs
to his horse, he galloped furiously through the streets, striking fire
out of the stones at every bound. Arrived at the principal mosque, he
sprang from his horse, and, kneeling at the portal, took possession of
the edifice as a Christian chapel, dedicating it to the blessed Virgin.
In testimony of the ceremony, he took a tablet which he had brought with
him, on which was inscribed in large characters "Ave Marie," and nailed
it to the door of the mosque with his dagger. This done, he remounted his
steed and galloped back to the gate. The alarm had been given--the city
was in an uproar--soldiers were gathering from every direction. They were
astonished at seeing a Christian warrior galloping from the interior of
the city. Hernando del Pulgar overturned some, cut down others, rejoined
his companions, who still maintained possession of the gate by dint of
hard fighting, and all made good their retreat to the camp. The Moors
were at a loss to imagine the meaning of this wild and apparently
fruitless assault; but great was their exasperation, on the following
day, when the trophy of hardihood and prowess, the "_Ave Maria_" was
discovered thus elevated in bravado in the very centre of the city.
The mosque thus boldly sanctified by Hernando del Pulgar was actually
consecrated into a cathedral after the capture of Granada.

The royal encampment lay at such a distance from Granada that the general
aspect