er such
word and the hoofs of my steed shall trample the breath of blasphemy
from thy body."

"I would defy thee to the death," answered Almamen, disdainfully; "but
I reserve the bravest of the Moors to witness a deed worthy of the
descendant of Jephtha. But hist! I hear hoofs."

Muza listened; and his sharp ear caught a distinct ring upon the hard
and rocky soil. He turned round and saw Almamen gliding away through
the thick underwood, until the branches concealed his form. Presently,
a curve in the path brought in view a Spanish cavalier, mounted on an
Andalusian jennet: the horseman was gaily singing one of the popular
ballads of the time; and, as it related to the feats of the Spaniards
against the Moors, Muza's haughty blood was already stirred, and his
moustache quivered on his lip. "I will change the air," muttered the
Moslem, grasping his lance, when, as the thought crossed him, he beheld
the Spaniard suddenly reel in his saddle and lay prostrate on the
ground. In the same instant Almamen had darted from his hiding-place,
seized the steed of the cavalier, mounted, and, ere Muza recovered from
his surprise, was by the side of the Moor.

"By what harm," said Muza, curbing his barb, "didst thou fell the
Spaniard--seemingly without a blow?"

"As David felled Goliath--by the pebble and the sling," answered
Almamen, carelessly. "Now, then, spur forward, if thou art eager to see
thy Leila."

The horsemen dashed over the body of the stunned and insensible
Spaniard. Tree and mountain glided by; gradually the valley vanished,
and a thick forest loomed upon their path. Still they made on, though
the interlaced boughs and the ruggedness of the footing somewhat
obstructed their way; until, as the sun began slowly to decline, they
entered a broad and circular space, round which trees of the eldest
growth spread their motionless and shadowy boughs. In the midmost sward
was a rude and antique stone, resembling the altar of some barbarous and
departed creed. Here Almamen abruptly halted, and muttered inaudibly to
himself.

"What moves thee, dark stranger?" said the Moor; "and why dost thou
mutter and gaze on space?"

Almamen answered not, but dismounted, hung his bridle to a branch of a
scathed and riven elm, and advanced alone into the middle of the
space. "Dread and prophetic power that art within me!" said the Hebrew,
aloud,--"this, then, is the spot that, by dream and vision, thou hast
foretold me wherein to consum