The strictly military business being
done, and such of the garrison as did not escape put, as by right, to
the sword, the good knight, Sir Wilfrid of Ivanhoe, took no further part
in the proceedings of the conquerors of that ill-fated place. A scene
of horrible massacre and frightful reprisals ensued, and the Christian
warriors, hot with victory and flushed with slaughter, were, it is to be
feared, as savage in their hour of triumph as ever their heathen enemies
had been.
Among the most violent and least scrupulous was the ferocious Knight of
Saint Jago, Don Beltran de Cuchilla y Trabuco y Espada y Espelon.
Raging through the vanquished city like a demon, he slaughtered
indiscriminately all those infidels of both sexes whose wealth did not
tempt him to a ransom, or whose beauty did not reserve them for more
frightful calamities than death. The slaughter over, Don Beltran took
up his quarters in the Albaycen, where the Alfaqui had lived who had so
narrowly escaped the sword of Ivanhoe; but the wealth, the treasure,
the slaves, and the family of the fugitive chieftain, were left in
possession of the conqueror of Xixona. Among the treasures, Don Beltran
recognized with a savage joy the coat-armors and ornaments of many brave
and unfortunate companions-in-arms who had fallen in the fatal battle
of Alarcos.
Pages:
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504