again serene, and all nature was restored
to tranquillity. The king, therefore, issued forth with his cavaliers and
took the road to the tower, followed by a great multitude, for he was
anxious once more to close the iron door, and shut up those evils that
threatened to overwhelm the land. But lo! on coming in sight of the tower,
a new wonder met their eyes. An eagle appeared high in the air, seeming to
descend from heaven. He bore in his beak a burning brand, and lighting on
the summit of the tower, fanned the fire with his wings. In a little while
the edifice burst forth into a blaze as though it had been built of rosin,
and the flames mounted into the air with a brilliancy more dazzling than
the sun; nor did they cease until every stone was consumed and the whole
was reduced to a heap of ashes. Then there came a vast flight of birds,
small of size and sable of hue, darkening the sky like a cloud; and they
descended and wheeled in circles round the ashes, causing so great a wind
with their wings that the whole was borne up into the air and scattered
throughout all Spain, and wherever a particle of those ashes fell it was
as a stain of blood. It is furthermore recorded by ancient men and writers
of former days, that all those on whom this dust fell were afterwards
slain in battle, when the country was conquered by the Arabs, and that the
destruction of this necromantic tower was a sign and token of the
approaching perdition of Spain.

'Let all those,' concludes the cautious friar, 'who question the verity of
this most marvellous occurrence, consult those admirable sources of our
history, the chronicle of the Moor Rasis, and the work entitled 'The Fall
of Spain,' written by the Moor, Abulcasim Tarif Abentarique. Let them
consult, moreover, the venerable historian Bleda, and the cloud of other
Catholic Spanish writers, who have treated of this event, and they will
find I have related nothing that has not been printed and published under
the inspection and sanction of our holy mother church. God alone knoweth
the truth of these things; I speak nothing but what has been handed down
to me from times of old.'

ANACREONTIC.

[Greek: To de cheilos, ouk et oida
Tini moi tropo poieseis.]

Maiden! first did Nature seek
Lilies for thy spotless cheek;
When with roses came she next
Half delighted, yet more vex'd,
For the lilies there, to see
Blushing at their purity!
Since her labor n