h of the faith.

These ceremonies were scarcely completed when joyful notice was given of
the approach of the queen Isabella with the rear-guard of the army. She
came accompanied by the princess Isabella, and attended by her ghostly
counsellor the cardinal Mendoza and her confessor Talavera. The king
sallied forth to meet her, accompanied by El Zagal, and it is said the
reception of the latter by the queen was characterized by the deference
and considerate delicacy which belonged to her magnanimous nature.

The surrender of Almeria was followed by that of Almunecar, Salobrena,
and other fortified places of the coast and the interior, and
detachments of Christian troops took quiet possession of the Alpuxarras
mountains and their secluded and fertile valleys.*

* Cura de los Palacios, cap. 93, 94; Pulgar, Cron., part 3, cap. 124;
Garibay, Comp. Hist., lib. 18, cap. 37, etc. etc.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.

EVENTS AT GRANADA SUBSEQUENT TO THE SUBMISSION OF EL ZAGAL.

Who can tell when to rejoice in this fluctuating world? Every wave of
prosperity has its reacting surge, and we are often overwhelmed by
the very billow on which we thought to be wafted into the haven of our
hopes. When Yusef Aben Comixa, the vizier of Boabdil, surnamed El Chico,
entered the royal saloon of the Alhambra and announced the capitulation
of El Zagal, the heart of the youthful monarch leaped for joy. His great
wish was accomplished; his uncle was defeated and dethroned, and he
reigned without a rival, sole monarch of Granada. At length he was about
to enjoy the fruits of his humiliation and vassalage. He beheld his
throne fortified by the friendship and alliance of the Castilian
monarchs; there could be no question, therefore, of its stability.
"Allah Akbar! God is great!" exclaimed he. "Rejoice with me, O Yusef;
the stars have ceased their persecution. Henceforth let no man call me
El Zogoybi."

In the first moment of his exultation Boabdil would have ordered public
rejoicings, but the shrewd Yusef shook his head. "The tempest has ceased
from one point of the heavens," said he, "but it may begin to rage from
another. A troubled sea is beneath us, and we are surrounded by rocks
and quicksands: let my lord the king defer rejoicings until all has
settled into a calm." El Chico, however, could not remain tranquil
in this day of exultation: he ordered his steed to be sumptuously
caparisoned, and, issuing out of the gate of the Alhambra, desc