o de Vargas was too severely wounded
to sally forth in person, but he ordered out his troops, and there was
brisk skirmishing under the walls, until the king drew off and returned
to the scene of the recent encounter. Here he had the bodies of the
principal warriors laid across mules, to be interred honorably at
Malaga; the rest of the slain were buried on the field of battle. Then,
gathering together the scattered cavalgada, he paraded it slowly, in an
immense line, past the walls of Castellar by way of taunting his foe.

With all his fierceness, old Muley Abul Hassan had a gleam of warlike
courtesy, and admired the hardy and soldier-like character of Pedro de
Vargas. He summoned two Christian captives, and demanded what were the
revenues of the alcayde of Gibraltar. They told him that, among other
things, he was entitled to one out of every drove of cattle that passed
his boundaries. "Allah forbid," cried the old monarch, "that so brave a
cavalier should be defrauded of his dues!"

He immediately chose twelve of the finest cattle from the twelve droves
which formed the cavalgada. These he gave in charge to an alfaqui to
deliver to Pedro de Vargas. "Tell him," said he, "that I crave his
pardon for not having sent these cattle sooner; but I have this moment
learnt the nature of his rights, and I hasten to satisfy them with the
punctuality due to so worthy a cavalier. Tell him, at the same time,
that I had no idea the alcayde of Gibraltar was so active and vigilant
in collecting his tolls."

The brave alcayde relished the stern soldier-like pleasantry of the old
Moorish monarch. He ordered a rich silken vest and a scarlet mantle to
be given to the alfaqui, and dismissed him with great courtesy. "Tell
His Majesty," said he, "that I kiss his hands for the honor he has done
me, and regret that my scanty force has not permitted me to give him a
more signal reception on his coming into these parts. Had three hundred
horsemen, whom I have been promised from Xeres, arrived in time, I might
have served up an entertainment more befitting such a monarch. I trust,
however, they will arrive in the course of the night, in which case His
Majesty may be sure of a royal regale in the dawning."

Muley Abul Hassan shook his head when he received the reply of De
Vargas. "Allah preserve us," said he, "from any visitation of these hard
riders of Xeres! A handful of troops acquainted with the wild passes of
these mountains may destroy an a