Still, he flattered himself that this had only been some transient inroad of a party of marauders intent upon plunder, and that a little succor thrown into the town would be sufficient to expel them from the castle and drive them from the land.

He ordered out, therefore, a thousand of his chosen cavalry, and sent them in all speed to the assistance of Alhama.

They arrived before its walls the morning after its capture: the Christian standards floated upon its towers, and a body of cavalry poured forth from its gates and came wheeling down into the plain to receive them.
The Moorish horsemen turned the reins of their steeds and galloped back for Granada.

They entered its gates in tumultuous confusion, spreading terror and lamentation by their tidings.

"Alhama is fallen! Alhama is fallen!" exclaimed they; "the Christians garrison its walls; the key of Granada is in the hands of the enemy!" When the people heard these words they remembered the denunciation of the santon.