DAYLIGHT comes and goes quickly in those latitudes, and it seemed to
the waiting, watching men as if a veil had suddenly been lifted from
before their eyes, when a small wooded island appeared to them in the
early morning.
It did not, indeed, look like that civilized Zipangu of which the
admiral and Martin Alonzo had spoken so often; but it was a new land,
and it might well be an outlying island not yet brought under the
civilizing influence of the rich and prosperous countries they were
seeking.
In short, no one doubted that Zipangu and Cathay, with their enormous
stores of gold, silver, and precious stones, lay beyond the island they
looked upon. It was a wonderful sight, surely, to see that peaceful
little island lying there on the placid bosom of the waters which had
been so mysterious to them but yesterday.
And presently the shores began to fill with people the like of which
they had never seen nor even heard of before. They were quite innocent
of clothing, and from the ships they appeared of a brown complexion,
though they were afterwards discovered to be of a coppery hue. They
were plainly as surprised at the sight of the strangers as the latter
could be at sight of them; for there was a constant running to and fro
among them, and a gesticulating and pointing that showed that they
could not conquer their wonder.
But what the men could distinguish from the ships only made them the
more anxious to be ashore, and there was a general shout when the
admiral signalled to drop anchor and prepare the boats. Then came the
eager question of who were to be the unfortunates to remain on board.
Martin Alonzo settled that summarily by selecting for the boats those
who had been the least troublesome during the voyage. Neither Diego nor
Juan dared ask to be of the party; but Martin Alonzo was in no manner
of doubt over their desire, and he said to Diego:
“I can have no fighting here, Diego, and so I can take but one of you
two boys. Which ought I take?”
“An it please you, Martin Alonzo,” cried Diego, eagerly, “there need
be no question of that. Let us both go, and we will pledge ourselves
not even to speak otherwise than softly. I pray you, good cousin!” he
begged.
“And you, Juan?” asked Martin Alonzo, ready to smile.
“I will let him strike me without striking back.”
Martin Alonzo laughed outright at that.
“I would not trust you that far. But put on all your bravery--stop! you
have none. Diego, do you and Juan come with me and I will give you each
one a morion and a bit of gay apparel, so that these natives may see us
all at our best. The men shall all go armed.”
It was in the spirit of putting the best appearance on themselves that
the whole fleet acted. The gentlemen adventurers clad themselves in
shining armor and donned their most brilliant cloaks, and the sailors
were armed with arquebuses and pikes, and were clad in their best, with
breastplates and helmets to complete their bravery.
The admiral was splendidly robed in a brilliant scarlet cloak over
his rich and glittering armor, and held the royal standard in his own
hand as he stood upright in his own boat, which led the way to the new
shores, which his steadfastness had earned and his great mind foreseen.
The heart of the noble discoverer was filled with piety, and so it was
that his very first act on setting foot on land was to kneel down, kiss
the earth, and offer up thanks to God for his goodness, even shedding
tears from the fulness of his gratitude.
After that he took formal possession of the new land in the name of the
Spanish sovereigns, and proclaimed himself by the titles which it had
been agreed upon with Ferdinand and Isabella should be his in the event
of the accomplishment of the purpose of the voyage--Admiral and Viceroy.
It is painful to relate, now, how the men, who had reviled him and had
even plotted his death, crowded around him with words of most fulsome
flattery and praise. Martin Alonzo, however, was not one of these. If
he had had differences with the admiral, they had been honest ones,
and he lost nothing of his self-respect now, in the full tide of the
admiral’s triumph.
He congratulated the admiral and gave him his full meed of praise,
and the admiral cordially met him, giving him back the most gracious
answers. A pity it was that the good feeling felt then could not last.
However, if it had, this tale need never have been told; for it was
because of the renewed differences between the two men that Diego and
Juan fell into such trouble. But of that later.
[Illustration:
“THE ADMIRAL WAS SPLENDIDLY ROBED IN A BRILLIANT SCARLET CLOAK OVER
HIS RICH AND GLITTERING ARMOR, AND HELD THE ROYAL STANDARD IN HIS OWN
HAND.”]
At first the natives would not approach the strangers; but when they
saw how peaceful they were--the admiral would not permit them to be
otherwise--they came gradually nearer and nearer until some of the more
courageous were emboldened to touch their guests.
They believed, then, that these white men, in their shining armor and
bright raiment, had come down from the skies; the sails of the ships
being taken for the wings on which they had floated down out of the
firmament.
When the others saw that nothing evil befell those who went near to
the visitors, they flocked out of the woods like so many children and
could not restrain their curiosity, feeling of the clothing, the arms,
and the very skin and beards of the white men. Yes, and they were so
ignorant of the nature of the weapons that one of them boldly closed
his hand on the blade of a sword, not knowing it would cut, and being
as much surprised as pained to see the blood flow from his wound.
The men begged that they might remain on land all the day long, and the
admiral permitted it, only admonishing them not to stray too far from
the boats; and so they spent the beautiful day enjoying the delights of
the soft climate and refreshing themselves with the fruits that were
brought them by the natives, who needed only to know that a thing was
desired to make them bring it.
The admiral distributed among the natives some of the cheap trinkets
that he had brought with him, and it was a marvel to the sailors to see
how little notion they had of the value of the glass beads and hawks’
bells, prizing the latter, indeed, above everything else, and being
willing to barter anything they had for them.
Gold, however, was the one thing that the voyagers craved before
everything else, and that they could not find; nor could they discover
any means of conveying their wishes, except by showing the metal to
the natives, and making signs of wishing to have the same. But as the
natives had nothing of the shape of the things shown them they only
shook their heads and indicated by other signs that they had nothing
like what was shown.
Diego and Juan had been furnished by Martin Alonzo with some bells
and beads, and they went about looking for objects for which to
barter them. Indeed, it was such a pleasure to them to see the joy
of the Indians--as the admiral had called them, thinking he had come
upon India--that they gave most of what they had without any sort of
exchange.
[Illustration: “REFRESHING THEMSELVES WITH THE FRUITS THAT WERE BROUGHT
THEM BY THE NATIVES.”]
But at last they stretched themselves luxuriously out in one of
the charming groves and let themselves be waited on by the willing
creatures, who brought them fresh fruits and roasted yuca root until
they could eat no more, when they offered these young sybarites water
in calabashes.
“I tell you, Juan,” said Diego, drowsily--for the luxury of all this,
taken with the scant sleep of the night before, aided not a little by
the quantities of food he had consumed, had made him sleepy--”this is
better than fighting, is it not?”
“I think so, indeed,” was the prompt answer.
The boys had become sworn friends during the day, and had not been
separated once.
“Do you feel like a prince?” demanded Diego. “Martin Alonzo promised we
should be such, you remember.”
“I don’t know how a prince feels,” answered Juan, with a laugh; “but I
don’t believe he can feel any better than I do.”
“I wish I could find some of that gold he talked of,” said Diego.
“Have you tried your Latin with them?” asked Juan.
“I did not think it worth while. Luis de Torres, the converted Jew,
spoke to them, as you heard, in I don’t know how many languages, and
they only stared at him and shook their heads, wondering, I suppose,
how he ever twisted his tongue around so many odd sounds. I thought,
myself, that he would lose all that remained of his teeth when he spoke
in Hebrew. No, I have not tried my Latin; though, now you speak of it,
it may be not amiss; for the Jew’s accent was not very good. Say, old
man!” he raised his voice and looked at an old man, who had watched the
two boys with an extraordinary interest, but had yet approached near to
them, having but recently come from a neighboring village.
When he saw that he was spoken to, he stood up and showed himself
a very respectable and dignified person; though, as Diego said to
Juan, most hideously painted on the face. Diego beckoned him to come
nearer, and began in Latin, Juan listening attentively and with as much
respect, almost, as the natives. But Diego had not said three words
before he sprang from the ground and agitatedly caught the old man by
the nose and led him, considerably startled and dismayed, to where the
sun streamed into an open spot in the woods.
Juan followed anxiously, a vague fear troubling him lest Diego was
going to do some violence to the old man. But that was not his
intention; though Juan might be excused for suspecting him. What he did
was to turn the old man’s head, using his nose as a sort of handle,
until the light struck athwart it. Then he took his hand away and cried
out, at the same time dancing:
“Gold! gold! gold!” There was a ring of that metal in the old man’s
nose.