and his shield was hung
round his neck, and they placed the sword Tizona in his hand, and they
raised his arm, and fastened it up so subtilely that it was a marvel
to see how upright he held the sword. And the Bishop Don Hieronymo
went on one side of him, and the trusty Gil Diaz on the other, and he
led the horse Bavieca, as the Cid had commanded him. And when all this
had been made ready, they went out from Valencia at midnight, through
the gate of Roseros, which is towards Castile. Pero Bermudez went
first with the banner of the Cid, and with him five hundred knights
who guarded it, all well appointed. And after these came all the
baggage. Then came the body of the Cid, with an hundred knights, all
chosen men, and behind them Dona Ximena with all her company, and six
hundred knights in the rear. All these went out so silently, and with
such a measured pace, that it seemed as if there were only a score.
And by the time that they had all gone out it was broad day.

Now Alvar Fanez Minaya had set the host in order, and while the Bishop
Don Hieronymo and Gil Diaz led away the body of the Cid, and Dona
Ximena, and the baggage, he fell upon the Moors. First he attacked the
tents of that Moorish queen the negress, who lay nearest to the city;
and this onset was so sudden, that they killed full a hundred and
fifty Moors before they had time to take arms or go to horse. But that
Moorish negress was so skilful in drawing the Turkish bow, that it
was held for a marvel; and it is said that they called her in Arabic
_Nugueymat Turya_, which is to say, the Star of the Archers. And she
was the first that got on horseback, and with some fifty that were
with her, did some hurt to the company of the Cid; but in fine they
slew her, and her people fled to the camp. And so great was the uproar
and confusion, that few there were who took arms, but instead thereof
they turned their backs and fled toward the sea. And when King Bucar
and his kings saw this, they were astonished. And it seemed to them
that there came against them on the part of the Christians full
seventy thousand knights, all as white as snow: and before them a
knight of great stature upon a white horse with a bloody cross, who
bore in one hand a white banner, and in the other a sword which seemed
to be of fire, and he made a great mortality among the Moors who were
flying. And King Bucar and the other kings were so greatly dismayed
that they never checked the reins till they