ve at last a gigantic body towering above him, and a voice more
terrible than the thunder of Allah, crying: 'What wishest thou from thy
slave, O king? Know that I am of the Jin, and Suleyman, whose name be
exalted, enslaved me to the ring that thou hast found.'

In Cordova recollections of the _Arabian Nights_ haunt you till the
commonest sights assume a fantastic character, and the frankly
impossible becomes mere matter of fact. You wonder whether your life is
real or whether you have somehow reverted to the days when Scheherazade,
with her singular air of veracity, recited such enthralling stories to
her lord as to save her own life and that of many other maidens. I
looked along the river and saw three slender trees bending over it,
reflecting in the placid water their leafless branches, and under them
knelt three women washing clothes. Were they three beautiful princesses
whose fathers had been killed, and they expelled from their kingdom and
thus reduced to menial occupations? Who knows? Indeed, I thought it very
probable, for so many royal persons have come down in the world of late;
but I did not approach them, since king's daughters under these
circumstances have often lost one eye, and their morals are nearly
always of the worst description.

X

[Sidenote: Puerta del Puente]

I went back to the old gate which led to the bridge. Close by, in the
little place, was the hut of the _consumo_, the local custom-house, with
officials lounging at the door or sitting straddle-legged on chairs,
lazily smoking. Opposite was a tobacconist's, with the gaudy red and
yellow sign, _Campania arrendataria de tabacos_, and a dram-shop where
three hardy Spaniards from the mountains stood drinking _aguardiente_.
Than this, by the way, there is in the world no more insidious liquor,
for at first you think its taste of aniseed and peppermint very
disagreeable; but perseverance, here as in other human affairs, has its
reward, and presently you develop for it a liking which time increases
to enthusiasm. In Spain, the land of custom and usage, everything is
done in a certain way; and there is a proper manner to drink
_aguardiente_. To sip it would show a lamentable want of decorum. A
Spaniard lifts the little glass to his lips, and with a comic, abrupt
motion tosses the contents into his mouth, immediately afterwards
drinking water, a tumbler of which is always given with the spirit. It
is really the most epicurean of intoxica