He observed that no one heeded
their conversation, and that the soldier made his way through the
various groups of idlers unnoticed, as if invisible.
Crossing the bridge, the soldier led the way by a narrow and steep
path past a Moorish mill and aqueduct, and up the ravine which
separates the domains of the Generalife from those of the Alhambra.
The last ray of the sun shone upon the red battlements of the
latter, which beetled far above; and the convent bells were
proclaiming the festival of the ensuing day. The ravine was
overshadowed by fig-trees, vines, and myrtles, and the outer towers
and walls of the fortress. It was dark and lonely, and the
twilight-loving bats began to flit about. At length the soldier halted
at a remote and ruined tower, apparently intended to guard a Moorish
aqueduct. He struck the foundation with the but-end of his spear. A
rumbling sound was heard, and the solid stones yawned apart, leaving
an opening as wide as a door.
"Enter in the name of the Holy Trinity," said the soldier, "and fear
nothing." The student's heart quaked, but he made the sign of the
cross, muttered his Ave Maria, and followed his mysterious guide
into a deep vault cut out of the solid rock under the tower, and
covered with Arabic inscriptions. The soldier pointed to a stone
seat hewn along one side of the vault. "Behold," said he, "my couch
for three hundred years." The bewildered student tried to force a
joke.
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