Yet he was social and kind-hearted, and provided he could be
diverted from his wrongs and his philosophy, was an entertaining
companion. I like these old weather-beaten sons of fortune, and
enjoy their rough campaigning anecdotes. In the course of my visits to
the one in question, I learnt some curious facts about an old military
commander of the fortress, who seems to have resembled him in some
respects, and to have had similar fortunes in the wars. These
particulars have been augmented by inquiries among some of the old
inhabitants of the place, particularly the father of Mateo Ximenes, of
whose traditional stories the worthy I am about to introduce to the
reader, was a favorite hero.
The Governor and the Notary.
IN FORMER times there ruled, as governor of the Alhambra, a
doughty old cavalier, who, from having lost one arm in the wars, was
commonly known by the name of el Gobernador Manco, or "the one-armed
governor." He in fact prided himself upon being an old soldier, wore
his mustaches curled up to his eyes, a pair of campaigning boots,
and a Toledo as long as a spit, with his pocket handkerchief in the
basket-hilt.
He was, moreover, exceedingly proud and punctilious, and tenacious
of all his privileges and dignities. Under his sway the immunities
of the Alhambra, as a royal residence and domain, were rigidly
exacted. No one was permitted to enter the fortress with firearms,
or even with a sword or staff, unless he were of a certain rank; and
every horseman was obliged to dismount at the gate, and lead his horse
by the bridle.
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