a, and all that rich diversity of vale and mountain that
surrounds Granada with an earthly paradise. It was twilight when he
found himself at the place, where, at the present day, are situated
the chapels, known by the name of the Sacred Furnaces. They are so
called from grottoes, in which some of the primitive saints are said
to have been burnt. At the time of Antonio's visit, the place was an
object of much curiosity. In an excavation of these grottoes, several
manuscripts had recently been discovered, engraved on plates of lead.
They were written in the Arabian language, excepting one, which was in
unknown characters. The Pope had issued a bull, forbidding any one,
under pain of excommunication, to speak of these manuscripts. The
prohibition had only excited the greater curiosity; and many reports
were whispered about, that these manuscripts contained treasures of
dark and forbidden knowledge.

As Antonio was examining the place from whence these mysterious
manuscripts had been drawn, he again observed the old man of the
library wandering among the ruins. His curiosity was now fully
awakened; the time and place served to stimulate it. He resolved to
watch this groper after secret and forgotten lore, and to trace him to
his habitation. There was something like adventure in the thing, that
charmed his romantic disposition. He followed the stranger, therefore,
at a little distance; at first cautiously, but he soon observed him to
be so wrapped in his own thoughts, as to take little heed of external
objects.

They passed along the skirts of the mountain, and then by the shady
banks of the Darro. They pursued their way, for some distance from
Granada, along a lonely road that led among the hills. The gloom of
evening was gathering, and it was quite dark when the stranger stopped
at the portal of a solitary mansion.

It appeared to be a mere wing, or ruined fragment, of what had once
been a pile of some consequence. The walls were of great thickness;
the windows narrow, and generally secured by iron bars. The door was
of planks, studded with iron spikes, and had been of great strength,
though at present it was much decayed. At one end of the mansion was a
ruinous tower, in the Moorish style of architecture. The edifice had
probably been a country retreat, or castle of pleasure, during the
occupation of Granada by the Moors, and rendered sufficiently strong
to withstand any casual assault in those warlike times.

The o