rse, avoir choisi pour se reposer un instant le point le plus
proche du ciel."

The great bells of the tower, all baptized with holy oil, a custom very
frequent in Spain, are dear to the hearts of those whom they daily call
to rest and prayer. As they strike the hours, passers-by look up to see
their great tongues protrude. Their sweet peal is heard in the most
distant quarters of the city, and beyond on the waters of the
Guadalquivir and in the fertile valley through which it flows. The deep
resonant note of Santa Maria is the last sound we hear before falling
asleep.

Inside you may ascend to the very summit by steps so broad and easy
that two horses abreast may go as far as the platform of the bells.
Below you lies the city with its scattered white buildings that once
housed half a million, and beyond, the valley that enfolded twelve
thousand villages. Though dwindled and changed, time has dealt gently
with Seville. There is gay laughter in her sunny streets and the olive
groves echo with rippling song. Just under your feet throbs the heart of
it all. Though repeatedly struck by lightning, the great Cathedral still
stands, an everlasting symbol of the Church, triumphant and eternal.

VIII

GRANADA

[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid

CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA

West front]

Kennst du das Land we die Citronen bluehn,
Im dunkeln Land die Goldorangen gluehn,
Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht,
Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht?

GOETHE'S _Wilhelm Meister_.

Thus being entred, they behold arownd
A large and spacious plaine, on every side
Strewed with pleasauns, whose fayre grassy grownd
Mantled with greene, and goodly beautifide
With all the ornaments of Floraes pride.

_Faerie Queene_, book 2, c. xii.

I

The first stars shone pale in the fields of upper air over walls and
towers wrapt in the mystery of twilight which softened every outline and
cast a kindly veil over the decay of a thousand years. The air was
oppressively sweet with the fragrance exhaled by southern vegetation on
a summer evening. The roses had climbed to the top of the walls, where
they could cool their flushed cheeks on the marble copings of the
battlements. The myrtle and ivy trembled in the evening breeze, and
through the broken casements the aloes whispered to the sweet-breathing
orange trees in the courtyards. The martlet twittered in the branches.
On all sid