CHAPTER II. ALMAMEN'S PROPOSED ENTERPRISE.--THE THREE ISRAELITES--CIRCUMSTANCEIMPRESSES EACH CHARACTER WITH A VARYING DIE.
Boadbil followed up his late success with a series of brilliant assaultson-the neighbouring fortresses. Granada, like a strong man bowed to theground, wrenched one after one the bands that had crippled her libertyand strength; and, at length, after regaining a considerable portion ofthe surrounding territory, the king resolved to lay siege to the seaportof Salobrena. Could he obtain this town, Boabdil, by establishingcommunication between the sea and Granada, would both be enabled toavail himself of the assistance of his African allies, and also preventthe Spaniards from cutting off supplies to the city, should they againbesiege it. Thither, then, accompanied by Muza, the Moorish king borehis victorious standard.
On the eve of his departure, Almamen sought the king's presence. A greatchange had come over the canton since the departure of Ferdinand; hiswonted stateliness of mien was gone; his eyes were sunk and hollow; hismanner disturbed and absent. In fact, his love for his daughter made thesole softness of his character; and that daughter was in the handsof the king who had sentenced the father to the tortures of theInquisition! To what dangers might she not be subjected, by theintolerant 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 eitheralternative. His dreams, his objects, his revenge, his ambition--allforsook him: one single hope, one thought, completely mastered hisstormy passions and fitful intellect.
In this mood the pretended santon met Boabdil. He represented to theking, over whom his influence had prodigiously increased since thelate victories of the Moors, the necessity of employing the armies ofFerdinand at a distance. He proposed, in furtherance of this policy,to venture himself in Cordova; to endeavour secretly to stir up thoseMoors, in that, their ancient kingdom, who had succumbed to theSpanish yoke, and whose hopes might naturally be inflamed by the recentsuccesses of Boabdil; and, at least, to foment such disturbances asmight afford the king sufficient time to complete his designs, andrecruit his force by aid of the powers with which he was in league.
The representations of Almamen at length conquered Boabdil's reluctanceto part with his sacred guide; and it was finally arranged that theIsraelite should at once depart from the city.
As Almamen pursued homeward his solitary way, he found himself suddenlyaccosted in the Hebrew tongue. He turned hastily, and saw before him anold man in the Jewish gown: he recognised Elias, one of the wealthiestand most eminent of the race of Israel.
"Pardon me, wise countryman!" said the Jew, bowing to the earth, "but Icannot resist the temptation of claiming kindred with one through whomthe horn of Israel may be so triumphantly exalted."
"Hush, man!" said Almamen, quickly, and looking sharply round; "I thycountryman! Art thou not, as thy speech betokens, an Israelite?"
"Yea," returned the Jew, "and of the same tribe as thy honouredfather--peace be with his ashes! I remembered thee at once, boythough 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 thysecret, trusting that, through thy soul and genius, thy fallen brethrenmight put off sackcloth and feast upon the house-tops."
Almamen looked hard at the keen, sharp, Arab features of the Jew; and atlength he answered, "And how can Israel be restored? wilt thou fight forher?"
"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 ushope it. Hast thou heard of the new persecutions against us that thefalse Nazarene king has already commenced in Cordova--persecutions thatmake the heart sick and the blood cold?"
"Alas!" replied Elias, "such woes indeed have not failed to reach mineear; and I have kindred, near and beloved kindred, wealthy and honouredmen, 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 sparkof 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 maybare before the blaze!"
"Nay," said Elias, dismayed rather than excited by the vehemence of hiscomrade,--"be not rash, son of Issachar, be not rash: peradventure thouwilt but exasperate the wrath of the rulers, and our substance therebywill be utterly consumed."
Almamen drew back, placed his hand quietly on the Jew's shoulder, lookedhim 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 leftrib. Verily, gold is a great thing; and--out on me! the knaves at homewill be wasting the oil, now they know old Elias is abroad." Thereat theJew drew his cloak around him, and quickened his pace.
Almamen, in the meanwhile, sought, through dark and subterraneanpassages, known only to himself, his accustomed home. He passed muchof the night alone; but, ere the morning star announced to the mountaintops the presence of the sun, he stood, prepared for his journey, in hissecret vault, by the door of the subterranean passages, with old Ximenbeside him.
"I go, Ximen," said Almamen, "upon a doubtful quest: whether Idiscover my daughter, and succeed in bearing her in safety from theircontaminating grasp, or whether I fall into their snares and perish,there is an equal chance that I may return no more to Granada. Shouldthis be so, you will be heir to such wealth as I leave in these placesI know that your age will be consoled for the lack of children when youreyes look upon the laugh of gold."
Ximen bowed low, and mumbled out some inaudible protestations andthanks. Almamen sighed heavily as he looked round the room. "I have evilomens in my soul, and evil prophecies in my books," said he, mournfully."But the worst is here," he added, putting his finger significantly tohis temples; "the string is stretched--one more blow would snap it."
As he thus said, he opened the door and vanished through that labyrinthof galleries by which he was enabled at all times to reach unobservedeither the palace of the Alhambra or the gardens without the gates ofthe city.
Ximen remained behind a few moments in deep thought. "All mine if hedies!" 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 fromme!" With that he locked the vault, and returned to the upper air.
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