Page:Tales of old Lusitania.djvu/34

24 its walls, but thought he would sleep in the verandah, where he arranged a bed for himself with the wraps he had brought.

Night had hardly set in when he perceived a hand stretched out to him, holding a lighted candle. This hand made signs to him to enter the deserted mansion. He took courage, went in, and found himself in a magnificently furnished room, in the middle of which stood a table, with an elegant supper spread for him, comprising delicious viands, sweets and wines of every description. As he was hungry, he ate to his heart's content; after which, feeling drowsy and tired from the day's fatigue, he leaned his head upon his hand and dozed off to sleep. While he slept, a gold ring he wore was taken from his finger and replaced by another. When he awoke, the hand again beckoned him to a chamber where there was a magnificent bed prepared for him. He threw himself on the bed, and then, for the first time, he noticed the new ring on his finger. About midnight he was awakened by some one moving in the chamber, and he made bold to ask who it was that flitted about him, whether it was a man or a woman. A weak voice replied, "I am a hapless Moorish maiden, who has been spell-bound within these walls for many a long year. Good man," said she, "if you have any pity for a forlorn creature, and are willing to break the spell I am under, I promise to make you