CHAPTER XXXIV.

BOABDIL'S GATE-PEPE'S STORY OF THE HAUNTED TOWER.

PEPE took me one day to the gateway through which, for the last time, Boabdil went out of the Alhambra. It is in the center of what was once a formidable tower-la Torre de los Siete Suelos-the tower seven stories high. But two of the stories remain: the other five are said to be filled up.

The unfortunate king made a last request of the Catholic monarch, that on his departure the gate should be walled up, so that no one after him could pass though it. Princes of oriental descent or tradition seem always to have entertained a jealousy of others. passing through gates solemnized by their own persons; of this feeling one or two instances in Holy Writ could be adduced. Boabdil's wish was granted by Ferdinand and Isabella the more readily, I suppose, as there were other better modes of entrance and egress. So this gateway was walled up, and unanointed persons never afterward desecrated it.

The tower is now a mere wreck, having been blown up by the French, who cared little for Boabdil, or the Catholic kings. It did not look to me as if it could ever have been inhabitable, though Pépé assured me that for some time after the Moors it had been occupied, and indeed only had been deserted on account of the strange apparitions that had made it untenable.

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PEPE A RACONTEUR.

"Thereby hangs a tale," I said to myself, and asked Pépé if he knew of any particular circumstance of a supernatural character in connection with it. "Muchos," replied he, and in the evening, when he came to my rooms, he would relate to me one which he knew to be well-founded.

Well, with the evening came Pépé. I had provided a vast quantity of cigarettes and a bottle of Val de Peñas. He lit his weed, took a copita, a word escaped him, and he thus addressed himself to speak:

"You must know, Don Carlos, that a little while after the conquest, and while the Catholic kings held command of the Alhambra, there dwelt in the Torre de los Siete Suelos a family very poor indeed. The tower was haunted by a Moorish woman who had come to an untimely death therein, and who walked nightly through the apartments, up and down stairs, without caring for lock or bolt. Porqué, Dios sabe, quien sabe-why she did so, God knows, who knows. However, no one would live in this tower but this poor family-and they only because they could live nowhere else.

"Well, Don Carlos, they had lived there without any other disaster than an occasional intrusion from this Moorish apparition, which indeed never spoke to them, six months and a few days; I believe ten days in all."

"No matter about the odd days, Pépé-throw them in."

"The whole story is true, Señor Don Carlos” (Pépé was on his dignity now, and gave me a full title); “and if I tell you a lie about the days you will not believe the rest of the story."

"Perhaps not, Pépé; but andamos."

66

'Well, then, Don Carlos, one night the wife of the

mason (the man who inhabited the tower was a mason) and her sister went down to the well in the Plaza de los Algibes for water, wherewith to continue their usual occupation of twisting thread; and as they were dipping their jug into the fountain, they perceived a fearful agitation of the water. The wife and sister remained dead with fright, and after awhile the sister fainted away. The wife rushed up the stairway of the tower to seek for assistance. She found no one, for her husband had gone down to the city; and besides these three there was no one in the house. She knew not what to do: to return to the dreadful scene she dared not, and yet she must leave her only sister in the power perhaps of demons. She was distracted between yes and no-between a desire and fear to return. In this state, unconscious of time, hearing nothing, seeing nothing, capable of nothing, alive, but motionless, she remained till her husband returned from Grenada, and knocked at the door of the tower. No one coming to the summons he repeated blow upon blow, and raised shout upon shout. There was no other means of entrance but by this door, and this was fastened within by strong locks and stronger bars. Despairing finally of getting inside without assistance, and surmising something terrible from the reputation of the tower, he went to the quarters of the captain of the guard, and told him what had happened; and, moreover, that he had heard sounds like groans within, which he feared proceeded from his wife or sister. The captain, accompanied by a file of soldiers and the mason, immediately hastened to the tower, and struck loudly against the door, commanding it to be opened in the name of the Catholic kings. The wife, who but a few minutes before had in part recovered her senses, looked out from one of the loop-holes of the tower, and ex

408

THE MIRACULOUS KEY.

claimed, 'Alas! is that you, my husband ?-is that you, dear Juan ? And the mason replied, 'Yes; open, in the name of God and the Catholic kings. It is I and the captain of the guard, with soldiers.' The wife hereupon slowly descended the winding stairway, holding on to its sides to prevent her falling, for she still was weak with agitation. As she examined her bunch of keys for the one that opened the door, it was not to be found; but in its stead one that had come down from her ancestors, which unlocked her treasures, and which she had kept in a safe place by itself. Without thinking, however, she applied this to the door, and to her consternation found it fitted."

"If that was the case, Péré, perhaps she had the right key, after all."

"No, Don Carlos, it was not the key, nor one shaped like it. It was a larger key, and had never opened the door before. This is true, señor."

"As the rest of the story.

But go on."

"Well, they got into the tower-husband, captain and soldiers—and the wife immediately seized the husband by the arm, and said, 'My dear Juan, there have been strange doings in this house; and thereupon swooned. The mason cried out,' My wife—my dear wife! She is dying. What shall I do!-what shall I do!' The captain took hold of him, and said roughly, 'Do! why, go and get some water, and throw upon your wife. These women can faint whenever they please.' And he threw a full bucket of water upon her face, and soon brought her to. When she saw the captain and soldiers, and recalled what had happened, she cried out, 'Alas! my sister! my dear sister! It is now four hours since you have been away.' 'But where is your sister, señora? Has any one carried her off? Whereupon the wife told him the whole story,

THE DISEMBODIED MOORS.

409

amid much sobbing and wringing of hands. The captain replied, 'Señora, this is nonsense. It is an imposition you have put upon us, or that has been put on you. And if the water did move, what of that? I am inclined to think something besides water was moving in you. Come,' he said to the soldiers, 'let us go to the cistern and find out this cock and bull story.' They found her sister still in a swoon, but the water as placid as if nothing had happened. Having applied water to her face, rubbed her hands, and pinched her, they recalled her to life. When fully recovered, she said that after her sister's departure, as she came to herself she saw four Moors, richly dressed, with burnished cuirasses, and poinards glittering with precious stones, standing near the cistern, one of whom gave her a paper with this inscription in Arabic and Spanish: 'To all those who come here for water let them read this note. Whoever shall have courage to sprinkle upon us water to baptize us, shall have gold enough to buy one half of Grenada:' and thereupon retired without another word."

"But Pépé, one moment-could the girl read Arabic and Spanish too?"

"Dios sabe, señor. All I know is, the story is

true."

"Doubtless, Pépé. There are greater improbabilities in greater truths."

"No, I was wrong, Don Carlos. The Moors told the girl more before they disappeared. They told her, that they had permission from the Almighty to appear for three days on earth, in search of some one who would sprinkle upon them the water of life; but that, failing in their pursuit, they would be condemned to everlasting torments. That this was the first night, and two more would conclude their days of grace.