At a late hour
in the evening, word was brought to Dolores, that the truant bird
had been seen upon the towers of the Generalife. Now it happens that
the Administrador of that ancient palace has likewise a dovecote,
among the inmates of which are said to be two or three of these
inveigling birds, the terror of all neighboring pigeon-fanciers.
Dolores immediately concluded, that the two feathered sharpers who had
been seen with her fugitive, were these bloods of the Generalife. A
council of war was forthwith held in the chamber of Tia Antonia. The
Generalife is a distinct jurisdiction from the Alhambra, and of course
some punctilio, if not jealousy, exists between their custodians. It
was determined, therefore, to send Pepe, the stuttering lad of the
gardens, as ambassador to the Administrador, requesting that if such
fugitive should be found in his dominions, he might be given up as a
subject of the Alhambra. Pepe departed accordingly, on his
diplomatic expedition, through the moonlit groves and avenues, but
returned in an hour with the afflicting intelligence that no such bird
was to be found in the dovecote of the Generalife. The
Administrador, however, pledged his sovereign word that if such
vagrant should appear there, even at midnight, he should instantly
be arrested, and sent back prisoner to his little black-eyed mistress.
Thus stands the melancholy affair, which has occasioned much
distress throughout the palace, and has sent the inconsolable
Dolores to a sleepless pillow.
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