far
past days, which none had dared to break. There was an ancient prophecy
that Spain would in time be invaded by barbarians from Africa, and to
prevent this a wise king, who knew the arts of magic, had placed a secret
talisman in one of the rooms. While this remained undisturbed the country
was safe from invasion. If once the secret of the talisman should be
divulged, swift ruin would descend upon the kingdom of the Goths. It must
be guarded strongly and well, for in it lay the destinies of Spain.

A huge iron gate closed the entrance to the enchanted palace, and upon
this each king of the Goths, on coming to the throne, placed a strong
lock, so that in time huge padlocks covered much of its front and its
secrecy seemed amply assured. When Roderic, the last king of the Goths,
came to the throne, twenty-seven of such locks hung upon the gate. As for
the keys, some writers tell us that they remained in the locks, others say
that they had been hidden and lost; but it is certain that no one had
dared to open a single one of the locks; prudence and fear guarded the
secret better than gates and locks.

At length the time came when the cherished secret was to be divulged. Don
Roderic, who had seized the throne by violence, and bore in his heart the
fatal bane of curiosity, determined to learn what had lain for centuries
behind those locks. The whole affair, he declared, was the jest of an
ancient king, which did very well when superstition ruled the world, but
which was far behind the age in which he lived. Two things moved the
epoch-breaking king,--curiosity, that vice which has led thousands to ruin,
and avarice, which has brought destruction upon thousands more. "It is a
treasure-house, not a talisman," he told himself. "Gold, silver, and
jewels lie hidden in its mouldy depths. My treasury is empty, and I should
be a fool to let a cluster of rusty locks keep me from filling it from
this ancient store."

When it became known what Roderic proposed a shudder of horror ran through
the land. Nobles and bishops hastened to the audience chamber and sought
to hinder the fateful purpose of the rash monarch. Their hearts were
filled with dread of the perils that would follow any meddling with the
magic spell, and they earnestly implored him not to bring the foretold
disaster upon the land.

"The kings who reigned before you have religiously obeyed the injunction,"
they said. "Each of them has fixed his lock to the gate. It will