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A VISION OF SUDDEN DEATH 281
riage and prods the lazy beasts with his stick. Some-
times the vehicle is double-decked, with seats above, in
the open air, accommodating three or four persons,
their legs dangling free in space. These airy vantage-
grounds, as well as the second story, are accessible by
means of a rope-ladder. Such an omnibus can accom-
modate about thirty persons, and is divided into three
classes, like the railroad trains. Until not so long
ago there was always an armed convoy for protection
against robbers, and I am told that such a convoy is
still found in remote places.
Of the large cities, only Granada is still connected
with the outside world by means of these old-fashioned
vehicles. Granada is encircled on all sides by the great
arteries of trafic which connect Madrid and northern
Spain with the southern part of the country and the
shores of the Mediterranean; they pass within several
miles of Granada and turn aside as if repelled by the
proximity of the city. A little branch line runs from
Granada to the south, but you must spend a day in an
omnibus if you wish to leave it in any other direction,
in order to reach a more modern means of transporta-
tion.
We were going to Madrid; we could choose between
three post-roads, each going in a different direction.
We chose the most difficult and the most interesting:
the route over the highlands of the Sierra Nevada to
Guadix.
On the day before our departure I took a shoe to be
repaired. The cobbler was a janitor in an aristocratic
house and sat all day long on the sidewalk in front
of the lovely portal of the palace, working. I asked
him when I might call for my shoe.
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