I was one of the royal guards of Ferdinand and Isabella; but was taken prisoner by the Moors in one of their sorties, and confined a captive in this tower.  When preparations were made to surrender the fortress to the Christian sovereigns, I was prevailed upon by an alfaqui, a Moorish priest, to aid him in secreting some of the treasures of Boabdil in this vault.  I was justly punished for my fault.  The alfaqui was an African necromancer, and by his infernal arts cast a spell upon me—­to guard his treasures.  Something must have happened to him, for he never returned, and here have I remained ever since, buried alive.  Years and years have rolled away; earthquakes have shaken this hill; I have heard stone by stone of the tower above tumbling to the ground, in the natural operation of time; but the spell-bound walls of this vault set both time and earthquakes at defiance.

“’Once every hundred years, on the festival of St. John, the enchantment ceases to have thorough sway; I am permitted to go forth and post myself upon the bridge of the Darro, where you met me, waiting until some one shall arrive who may have power to break this magic spell.  I have hitherto mounted guard there in vain.  I walk as in a cloud, concealed from mortal sight.  You are the first to accost me for now three hundred years.  I behold the reason.  I see on your finger the seal-ring of Solomon the Wise, which is proof against all enchantment.  With you it remains to deliver me from this awful dungeon, or to leave me to keep guard here for another hundred years.’

“The student listened to this tale in mute wonderment.  He had heard many tales of treasures shut up under strong enchantment in the vaults of the Alhambra, but had treated them as fables.  He now felt the value of the seal-ring, which had, in a manner, been given to him by St. Cyprian.  Still, though armed by so potent a talisman, it was an awful thing to find himself tete-a-tete in such a place with an enchanted soldier, who, according to the laws of nature, ought to have been quietly in his grave for nearly three centuries.

“A personage of this kind, however, was quite out of the ordinary run, and not to be trifled with, and he assured him he might rely upon his friendship and good will to do everything in his power for his deliverance.

     “‘I trust to a motive more powerful than friendship,’ said the
     soldier.

“He pointed to a ponderous iron coffer, secured by locks inscribed with Arabic characters.  ‘That coffer,’ said he, ’contains countless treasure in gold and jewels and precious stones.  Break the magic spell by which I am enthralled, and one half of this treasure shall be thine.’

     “‘But how am I to do it?’