opes of the hills; in the orange and citron groves the voice
of the nightingale made the nights musical. In short, all was so beautiful
below and so soft and serene above that the Moors seemed not without
warrant for their fond belief that Paradise lay in the skies overhanging
this happy plain.

But, alas for Granada! war hung round its borders, and the blare of the
trumpet and clash of the sword were ever familiar sounds within its
confines. Christian kingdoms surrounded it, whose people envied the
Moslems this final abiding-place on the soil of Spain. Hostilities were
ceaseless on the borders; plundering forays were the delight of the
Castilian cavaliers and the Moorish horsemen. Every town was a fortress,
and on every peak stood a watch-tower, ready to give warning with a signal
fire by night or a cloud of smoke by day of any movement of invasion. For
many years such a state of affairs continued between Granada and its
principal antagonist, the united kingdoms of Castile and Leon. Even when,
in 1457, a Moorish king, disheartened by a foray into the vega itself,
made a truce with Henry IV., king of Castile and Leon, and agreed to pay
him an annual tribute, the right of warlike raids was kept open. It was
only required that they must be conducted secretly, without sound of
trumpet or show of banners, and must not continue more than three days.
Such a state of affairs was desired alike by the Castilian and Moorish
chivalry, who loved these displays of daring and gallantry, and enjoyed
nothing more than a crossing of swords with their foes. In 1465 a Moorish
prince, Muley Abul Hassan, a man who enjoyed war and hated the Christians,
came to the throne, and at once the tribute ceased to be paid. For some
years still the truce continued, for Ferdinand and Isabella, the new
monarchs of Spain, had troubles at home to keep them engaged. But in 1481
the war reopened with more than its old fury, and was continued until
Granada fell in 1492, the year in which the wise Isabella gave aid to
Columbus for the discovery of an unknown world beyond the seas.

The war for the conquest of Granada was one full of stirring adventure and
hair-breadth escapes, of forays and sieges, of the clash of swords and the
brandishing of spears. It was no longer fought by Spain on the principle
of the raid,--to dash in, kill, plunder, and speed away with clatter of
hoofs and rattle of spurs. It was Ferdinand's policy to take and hold,
capturing strongho