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A VISION OF SUDDEN DEATH 287
road has been cut through and great walls rise on both
sides, cutting off the view, while the land begins to pile
up behind. Only within the silhouette of the sides of
the road is there a glimpse behind of a bit of the Vega
and a small gray shapeless speck which is Granada.
We left our walled road and the coach and ex-
plored the surrounding heights. In some places were
entrances to uninhabited caves. An overgrown path
led away from them, disappearing a short distance
ahead. There were no human habitations, only naked
pinnacles all around; but when we ascended the nearest
height a black abyss opened at our feet. ‘The steep
slopes were covered with fruit-trees; at the bottom a
white river wound in and out through a group of
houses; voices rose from below, and the trumpet neigh
of a donkey. It was a little world of its own sur-
rounded on all sides by massive mountains.
It was nearly nine o’clock when the zagal came run-
ning up and begged to get in. At last the road was
level and the animals, having rested, started on a sharp
trot. They rushed along as if they had just been taken
out of the stable—forward, then around a sharp cor-
ner and down into a deep valley. The beggars showed
some spirit! The coachman applied the brakes
through force of habit, though he knew they did not
work. The animals broke into a gallop. We rolled
downward with increasing speed like a diminutive ava-
lanche; but at the next bend the grade came to an
abrupt end. There was a frightful creak in the old
tub, and we jolted complacently into the village.
Once more we ascended. It was uphill and downhill
like a great seesaw that threw us from pinnacle to
pinnacle every two or three miles, rising all the time,
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