cating that it was intended for the queen, who was present in
the camp.

This bravado and the insult offered Queen Isabella excited the highest
indignation among the Christian warriors. "Shall we let this insolent
fellow outdo us?" said Perez del Pulgar, who was present. "I propose to
teach these insolent Moors a lesson. Who will stand by me in an enterprise
of desperate peril?" The warriors knew Pulgar well enough to be sure that
his promise of peril was likely to be kept, yet all who heard him were
ready to volunteer. Out of them he chose fifteen,--men whom he knew he
could trust for strength of arm and valor of heart.

His proposed enterprise was indeed a perilous one. A Moorish renegade had
agreed to guide him into the city by a secret pass. Once within, they were
to set fire to the Alcaiceria and others of the principal buildings, and
then escape as best they could.

At dead of night they set out, provided with the necessary combustibles.
Their guide led them up a channel of the river Darro, until they halted
under a bridge near the royal gate. Here Pulgar stationed six of his
followers on guard, bidding them to keep silent and motionless. With the
others he made his way up a drain of the stream which passed under a part
of the city and opened into the streets. All was dark and silent. Not a
soul moved. The renegade, at the command of Pulgar, led the adventurers to
the principal mosque. Here the pious cavalier drew from under his cloak a
parchment inscribed in large letters with AVE MARIA, and nailed this to
the door of the mosque, thus dedicating the heathen temple to the Virgin
Mary.

They now hurried to the Alcaiceria, where the combustibles were placed
ready to fire. Not until this moment was it discovered that the
torch-bearer had carelessly left his torch at the door of the mosque. It
was too late to return. Pulgar sought to strike fire with flint and steel,
but while doing so the Moorish guard came upon them in its rounds. Drawing
his sword and followed by his comrades, the bold Spaniard made a fierce
assault upon the astonished Moors, quickly putting them to flight. But the
enterprise was at an end. The alarm was given and soldiers were soon
hurrying in every direction through the streets. Guided by the renegade,
Pulgar and his companions hastened to the drain by which they had entered,
plunged into it, and reached their companions under the bridge. Here
mounting their horses, they rode back to the camp.