An incident, trivial in itself, but, in the event, most important, now occurred to further exalt the reputation of the Moslem arms. A Greek of high rank was seized by a scouting party of Saracens in the environs of Castrogiovanni. The prisoner, conducted to Palermo, and found to be incapable of manual labor and without means to procure the heavy ransom demanded, was condemned to death by the merciless governor, whose practical but cruel policy did not encourage the maintenance of useless captives. As he was being led away by the executioner, the Greek patrician implored with passionate entreaties the clemency of the Emir, promising him the possession of Castrogiovanni if his life were spared. Abbas listened with eagerness to a proposal so congenial to his adventurous and ambitious spirit. A detachment of a thousand horsemen and seven hundred foot, selected for their prowess, was assembled with all diligence and secrecy, and, guided by the renegade and commanded by the Emir in person, departed in silence from Palermo by night, and proceeded to its destination by unfrequented roads and the dangerous paths of mountain solitudes. Arriving without molestation in the vicinity of the city, the Arab general placed all of his cavalry and a portion of his infantry in ambush on the south, where the approach was the least difficult, and the groves of the suburban residences occupied by the wealthier inhabitants afforded excellent facilities for concealment. A chosen band of warriors, directed by the Byzantine traitor, ascended with infinite trouble the precipitous face of the rock on the north side of the citadel, and at the foot of the wall awaited with impatience the first rays of the sun. With the approach of dawn, the vigilance of the sentinels was relaxed, for the impregnable character of the fortress seemed of itself sufficient protection in the glare of open day, and, forgetting that vigilance is one of the first duties of a soldier, the guards sought repose after the fatigues of the night. No sooner had they disappeared from the ramparts, when the Moslems, in single file, introduced themselves into the citadel by means of an aqueduct which passed under the wall. The few stragglers abroad at that early hour were cut down; the gates were thrown open, and, amidst the clash of arms and the war-cry of the Moslems, the main body of the detachment, headed by the Emir, dashed into the city. The lustre of the triumph was sadly tarnished by the atrocities with which it was accompanied. The garrison was deliberately butchered. Not a single soldier escaped. The women and children were condemned to slavery. Within the walls of Castrogiovanni, as a place of absolute security, were collected the most distinguished and opulent of the Christian inhabitants, with the bulk of the remaining treasure of the island. The priesthood had stored here the wealth amassed by the fears and the generosity of the superstitious and devout populace during many centuries.