ng
some excuse to proceed against the sons of Musa, whose ruin he had sworn.
It was told him that Abdul-Aziz was seeking to make Spain independent and
was bowing before strange gods. Soliman asked no more, but sent the order
for his death.

It was to friends of the emir that the fatal mandate was sent. They loved
the mild Abdul, but they were true sons of Islam, and did not dare to
question the order of the Commander of the Faithful. The emir was then at
a villa near Seville, whither he was accustomed to withdraw from the cares
of state to the society of his beloved wife. Near by he had built a
mosque, and here, on the morning of his death, he entered and began to
read the Koran.

A noise at the door disturbed him, and in a moment a throng burst into the
building. At their head was Habib, his trusted friend, who rushed upon him
and struck him with a dagger. The emir was unhurt, and sought to escape,
but the others were quickly upon him, and in a moment his body was rent
with dagger strokes and he had fallen dead. His head was at once cut off,
embalmed, and sent to the caliph. The cruel use made of it we have told.

A wild commotion followed when the people learned of this murder, but it
was soon quelled. The power of the caliph was yet too strong to be
questioned, even in far-off Spain. What became of Exilona we do not know.
Some say that she was slain with her husband; some that she survived him
and died in privacy. However it be, her life was one of singular romance.

As for the kindly and unfortunate emir, his memory was long fondly
cherished in Spain, and his name still exists in the title of a valley in
the suburbs of Antequera, which was named Abdelaxis in his honor.

PELISTES, THE DEFENDER OF CORDOVA.

No sooner had Tarik defeated the Christian army on the fatal field of
Sidonia than he sent out detachments of horsemen in all directions, hoping
to win the leading cities of Spain before the people should recover from
their terror. One of these detachments, composed of seven hundred horse,
was sent against Cordova, an ancient city which was to become the capital
of Moslem Spain. This force was led by a brave soldier named Magued, a
Roman or Greek by birth, who had been taken prisoner when a child and
reared in the Arab faith. He now ranked next to Tarik in the arts and
stratagems of war, and as a horseman and warrior was the model and
admiration of his followers.

Among the Christian leaders who ha