Mahomet returned accordingly, and obtained a diminution of ten prayers; but when he related his success to Moses, the latter made the same objection to the daily amount of forty. By his advice Mahomet returned repeatedly, until the number was reduced to five.
Moses still objected. "Thinkest thou to exact five prayers daily from thy people? By Allah! I have had experience with the children of Israel, and such a demand is vain; return therefore and entreat still further mitigation of the task."
"No," returned Mahomet, "I have already asked indulgence until I am ashamed." With these words he saluted Moses and departed.
By the Ladder of Light he descended to the temple of Jerusalem, where he found Borak fastened as he had left her, and mounting, was borne back in an instant to the place whence he had been taken. (Adapted from Washington Irving.)
THE ALHAMBRA
On a hill in the city of Granada, a principal town in the Spanish providence of Andalusia, stands an extensive fortress known as the Alhambra, or "the red castle." It is the old citadel of the town, and was built by the Moors when they were the masters of Spain. Designed for warlike and defensive purposes only, it has no pretentions to architectural grandeur or effect. Its walls, which average thirty feet in height and six feet in thickness, are irregular
