me who had received the summons without a throb; surely
the blow was struck, and swiftly fled the spark of life, whilst others,
in the violent contraction of the muscles, and the writhing expression
of pain, indicated how fearfully the rebellious soul had grappled with
the destroyer, before she could be dislodged from her tenement. Death
levels all distinction, and here were seen men of various ages and
ranks, so widely separated in life, promiscuously mingled in the last
repose. Youth and age alike indifferently strewed the plain, and the
silvered locks lay beside the flowing tresses; the pale hue of
protracted life, with the rosy healthful tints of commencing and hopeful
existence. Spring had mixed its blossoms with the falling leaves of
autumn. No distinction of rank was here; by the noble chief lay the
humble soldier--their attire alone could distinguish one from the other;
and even this external ornament would soon be destroyed, and all, all
would be amalgamated in one general indiscriminate dust.

But still that period was not arrived, and the encampment of corpses,
fresh in death, appeared most like an army of sleeping warriors; but for
the bloody tokens and fearful disorder which drove away every image of
natural repose, it seemed as if their departed spirits still hovered
within the bodies which they had lately abandoned. But alas! too soon
the harbinger of fading and helpless mortality would speed to dispel the
melancholy charm. The carrion birds were now hurrying to claim the
undisputed inheritance of that prey which a short time since had been
the receptacle of so many feelings and affections, while a thousand
hearts were doomed to weep for the occasion that afforded joy to the
gloomy and filthy revellers.

The routed Christians, meantime, were fast retreating, whilst the news
of their defeat and the fate of Aguilar spreading swiftly around, soon
reached the stately city of Granada, for misfortune is a most
expeditious traveller. The heroic Isabella felt an indescribable shock
at these unwelcome tidings; even victory, if purchased with the death of
Don Alonso, she would consider a reverse, but attended, as it was, with
complete overthrow, it created the most lively sensations of indignation
and sorrow. She made a solemn vow in the presence of the archbishop her
confessor, and her nobles, that she would neither wear linen nor sleep
on her royal couch until that daring rebellion had been annihilated, and
its