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 of his character; and that daughter was in the hands of the
king who had sentenced the father to the tortures of the Inquisition!
To what dangers might she not be subjected, by the intolerant zeal of
conversion! and could that frame, and gentle heart, brave the terrific
engines that might be brought against her fears? "Better," thought he,
"that she should perish, even by the torture, than adopt that hated
faith." He gnashed his teeth in agony at either alternative. His
dreams, his objects, his revenge, his ambition--all forsook him: one
single hope, one thought, completely mastered his stormy passions and
fitful intellect.
In this mood the pretended santon met Boabdil. He represented to the
king, over whom his influence had prodigiously increased since the late
victories of the Moors, the necessity of employing the armies of
Ferdinand at a distance. He proposed, in furtherance of this policy, to
venture himself in Cordova; to endeavour secretly to stir up those Moors,
in that, their ancient kingdom, who had succumbed to the Spanish yoke,
and whose hopes might naturally be inflamed by the recent successes of
Boabdil; and, at least, to foment such disturbances as might afford the
king sufficient time to complete his designs, and recruit his force by
aid of the powers with which he was in league.
The representations of Almamen at length conquered Boabdil's reluctance
to part with his sacred guide; and it was finally arranged that the
Israelite should at once depart from the city.
As Almamen pursued homeward his solitary way, he found himself suddenly
accosted in the Hebrew tongue. He turned hastily, and saw before him an
old man in the Jewish gown: he recognised Elias, one of the wealthiest
and most eminent of the race of Israel.
"Pardon me, wise countryman!" said the Jew, bowing to the earth, "but I
cannot resist the temptation of claiming kindred with one through whom
the horn of Israel may be so triumphantly exalted."
"Hush, man!" said Almamen, quickly, and looking sharply round; "I thy
countryman! Art thou not, as thy speech betokens, an Israelite?"
"Yea," returned the Jew, "and of the same tribe as thy honoured father--
peace be with his ashes! I remembered thee at once, boy though thou wert
when thy steps shook off the dust against Granada. I remembered thee, I
say, at once, on thy return; but I have kept thy secret, trusting that,
through thy soul and genius, thy fallen brethren might put off sackcloth
and feast upon the house-tops."
Almamen looked hard at the keen, sharp, Arab features of the Jew; and at
length he answered, "And how can Israel be restored? wilt thou fight for
her?"
"I am too old, son of Issachar, to bear arms; but our tribes are many,
and our youth strong. Amid these disturbances between dog and dog--"
"The lion may get his own," interrupted Almamen, impetuously,--"let us
hope it. Hast thou heard of the new persecutions against us that the
false Nazarene king has already commenced in Cordova--persecutions that
make the heart sick and the blood cold?"
"Alas!" replied Elias, "such woes indeed have not failed to reach mine
ear; and I have kindred, near and beloved kindred, wealthy and honoured
men, scattered throughout that land."
"Were it not better that they should die on the field than by the rack?"
exclaimed Almamen, fiercely. "God of my fathers! if there be yet a spark
of manhood left amongst thy people, let thy servant fan it to a flame,
that shall burn as the fire burns the stubble, so that the earth may bare
before the blaze!"
"Nay," said Elias, dismayed rather than excited by the vehemence of his
comrade,--"be not rash, son of Issachar, be not rash: peradventure thou
wilt but exasperate the wrath of the rulers, and our substance thereby
will be utterly consumed."
Almamen drew back, placed his hand quietly on the Jew's shoulder, looked
him hard in the face, and, gently laughing, turned away.
Elias did not attempt to arrest his steps. "Impracticable," he muttered;
"impracticable and dangerous! I always thought so. He may do us harm:
were he not so strong and fierce, I would put my knife under his left
rib. Verily, gold is a great thing; and--out on me! the knaves at home
will be wasting the oil, now they know old Elias is abroad." Thereat the
Jew drew his cloak around him, and quickened his pace.
Almamen, in the meanwhile, sought, through dark and subterranean
passages, known only to himself, his accustomed home. He passed much of
the night alone; but, ere the morning star announced to the mountain tops
the presence of the sun, he stood, prepared for his journey, in his
secret vault, by the door of the subterranean passages, with old Ximen
beside him.
"I go, Ximen," said Almamen, "upon a doubtful quest: whether I discover
my daughter, and succeed in bearing her in safety from their
contaminating grasp, or whether I fall into their snares and perish,
there is an equal chance that I may return no more to Granada. Should
this be so, you will be heir to such wealth as I leave in these places I
know that your age will be consoled for the lack of children when your
eyes look upon the laugh of gold."
Ximen bowed low, and mumbled out some inaudible protestations and thanks.
Almamen sighed heavily as he looked round the room. "I have evil omens
in my soul, and evil prophecies in my books," said he, mournfully. "But
the worst is here," he added, putting his finger significantly to his
temples; "the string is stretched--one more blow would snap it."
As he thus said, he opened the door and vanished through that labyrinth
of galleries by which he was enabled at all times to reach unobserved
either the palace of the Alhambra or the gardens without the gates of the
city.
Ximen remained behind a few moments in deep thought. "All mine if he
dies!" said he: "all mine if he does not return! All mine, all mine!
and I have not a child nor a kinsman in the world to clutch it away from
me!" With that he locked the vault, and returned to the upper air.
