ctions of Quexada. To another of his
officers he confided the Spanish prisoners, and gave the signal to his
army to withdraw from the spot, leaving only a small body to complete
the ruin of the fortress.

Accompanied by Almamen and his principal officers, Boabdil now hastened
towards Granada; and while, with slower progress, Quexada and his
companions, under a strong escort, took their way across the Vega, a
sudden turn in their course brought abruptly before them the tower they
had so valiantly defended. There it still stood, proud and stern, amidst
the blackened and broken wrecks around it, shooting aloft, dark and
grim, against the sky. Another moment, and a mighty crash sounded
on their ears, while the tower fell to the earth, amidst volumes of
wreathing smoke and showers of dust, which were borne, by the concussion
to the spot on which they took their last gaze of the proudest fortress
on which the Moors of Granada had beheld, from their own walls, the
standard of Arragon and Castile.

At the same time, Leila--thus brought so strangely within the very
reach of her father and her lover, and yet, by a mysterious fate, still
divided from both,--with Donna Inez, and the rest of the females of the
garrison, pursued her melancholy path along the ridges of the mountains.

CHAPTER II. ALMAMEN'S PROPOSED ENTERPRISE.--THE THREE ISRAELITES--CIRCUMSTANCE
IMPRESSES EACH CHARACTER WITH A VARYING DIE.

Boadbil followed up his late success with a series of brilliant assaults
on-the neighbouring fortresses. Granada, like a strong man bowed to the
ground, wrenched one after one the bands that had crippled her liberty
and strength; and, at length, after regaining a considerable portion of
the surrounding territory, the king resolved to lay siege to the seaport
of Salobrena. Could he obtain this town, Boabdil, by establishing
communication between the sea and Granada, would both be enabled to
avail himself of the assistance of his African allies, and also prevent
the Spaniards from cutting off supplies to the city, should they again
besiege it. Thither, then, accompanied by Muza, the Moorish king bore
his victorious standard.

On the eve of his departure, Almamen sought the king's presence. A great
change had come over the canton since the departure of Ferdinand; his
wonted stateliness of mien was gone; his eyes were sunk and hollow; his
manner disturbed and absent. In fact, his love for his daughter made the
sole softness