and in this reflection he is
supported by the venerable historian Pedro Abarca of the Society of
Jesuits.*

* Abarca, Anales de Aragon, Rey 30, cap. 2, \0xA4 7.

CHAPTER XIV.

HOW KING BOABDIL EL CHICO MARCHED OVER THE BORDER.

The defeat of the Christian cavaliers among the mountains of Malaga,
and the successful inroad of Muley Abul Hassan into the lands of Medina
Sidonia, had produced a favorable effect on the fortunes of the old
monarch. The inconstant populace began to shout forth his name in the
streets, and to sneer at the inactivity of his son Boabdil el Chico. The
latter, though in the flower of his age and distinguished for vigor and
dexterity in jousts and tournaments, had never yet fleshed his weapon
in the field of battle; and it was murmured that he preferred the silken
repose of the cool halls of the Alhambra to the fatigue and danger of
the foray and the hard encampments of the mountains.

The popularity of these rival kings depended upon their success against
the Christians, and Boabdil el Chico found it necessary to strike some
signal blow to counterbalance the late triumph of his father. He was
further incited by his father-in-law, Ali Atar, alcayde of Loxa, with
whom the coals of wrath against the Christians still burned among the
ashes of age, and had lately been blown into a flame by the attack made
by Ferdinand on the city under his command.

Ali Atar informed Boabdil that the late discomfiture of the Christian
knights had stripped Andalusia of the prime of her chivalry and broken
the spirit of the country. All the frontier of Cordova and Ecija now lay
open to inroad; but he especially pointed out the city of Lucena as an
object of attack, being feebly garrisoned and lying in a country rich in
pasturage, abounding in cattle and grain, in oil and wine. The fiery old
Moor spoke from thorough information, for he had made many an incursion
into these parts, and his very name was a terror throughout the country.
It had become a by-word in the garrison of Loxa to call Lucena the
garden of Ali Atar, for he was accustomed to forage its fertile
territories for all his supplies.

Boabdil el Chico listened to the persuasions of this veteran of the
borders. He assembled a force of nine thousand foot and seven hundred
horse, most of them his own adherents, but many the partisans of his
father; for both factions, however they might fight among themselves,
were ready to unite in any exped