Part 45 (1/2)
”A cross, say'st thou, Sancho!” interrupted Mercedes, almost gasping for breath, yet so far subduing her feelings as to prevent the old seaman from detecting them; ”hath Don Luis succeeded in inducing her to accept of a cross?”
”That hath he, Senorita--one of precious stones, that he once wore at his own neck.”
”Knowest thou the stones?--was it of turquoise, embellished with the finest gold?”
”For the gold I can answer, lady, though my learning hath never reached as high as the precious stones. The heavens of Hayti, however, are not bluer than the stones of that cross. Dona Ozema calls it 'Mercedes,' by which I understand that she looketh for the mercies of the crucifixion to help her benighted soul.”
”Is this cross, then, held so common, that it hath gotten to be the subject of discourse even for men of thy cla.s.s?”
”Hearkee, Senorita; a man like me is more valued, on board a caravel, in a tossing sea, than he is likely to be here, in Barcelona, on solid ground. We went to c.i.p.ango to set up crosses, and to make Christians; so that all hath been in character. As for the Lady Ozema, she taketh more notice of me than of another, as I was in the battle that rescued her from Caonabo, and so she showed me the cross the day we anch.o.r.ed in the Tagus, or just before the admiral ordered me to bring his letter to her Highness. Then it was that she kissed the cross, and held it to her heart, and said it was 'Mercedes.'”
”This is most strange, Sancho! Hath this princess attendants befitting her rank and dignity?”
”You forget, Senorita, that the Nina is but a small craft, as her name signifieth, and there would be no room for a large train of lords and ladies. Don Christopher and Don Luis are honorable enough to attend on any princess; and for the rest, the Dona Ozema must wait until our gracious queen can command her a retinue befitting her birth. Besides, my lady, these Haytian dames are simpler than our Spanish n.o.bles, half of them thinking clothes of no great use in that mild climate.”
Mercedes looked offended and incredulous; but her curiosity and interest were too active, to permit her to send the man away without further question.
”And Don Luis de Bobadilla was ever with the admiral?” she said; ”ever ready to support him, and foremost in all hazards?”
”Senorita, you describe the count as faithfully as if you had been present from first to last. Had you but seen him dealing out his blows upon Caonabo's followers, and the manner in which he kept them all at bay, with the Dona Ozema near him, behind the rocks, it would have drawn tears of admiration from your own lovely eyes.”
”The Dona Ozema near him--behind rocks--and a.s.sailants held at bay!”
”Si, Senora; you repeat it all like a book. It was much as you say, though the Lady Ozema did not content herself with being behind the rocks, for, when the arrows came thickest, she rushed before the count, compelling the enemy to withhold, lest they should slay the very prize they were battling for; thereby saving the life of her knight.”
”Saving his life!--the life of Luis--of Don Luis de Bobadilla--an Indian princess?”
”It is just as you say, and a most n.o.ble girl she is, asking pardon for speaking so light of one of her high rank. Time and again, since that day, hath the young count told me, that the arrows came in such clouds, that his honor might have been tarnished by a retreat, or his life been lost, but for the timely resolution of the Dona Ozema. She is a rare creature, Senorita, and you will love her as a sister, when you come to see and know her.”
”Sancho,” said our heroine, blus.h.i.+ng like the dawn, ”thou saidst that the Conde de Llera bade thee speak of him to his aunt; did he mention no one else?”
”No one, Senorita.”
”Art certain, Sancho? Bethink thee well--did he mention no other name to thee?”
”Not that I can swear. It is true, that either he or old Diego, the helmsman, spoke of one Clara that keepeth an _hosteria_, here in Barcelona, as a place famous for its wine; but I think it more likely to have been Diego than the count, as one thinketh much of these matters, and the other would not be apt to know aught of Clara.”
”Thou canst retire, Sancho,” said Mercedes, in a faint voice. ”We will say more to thee in the morning.”
Sancho was not sorry to be dismissed, and he gladly returned to his pallet, little dreaming of the mischief he had done by the mixture of truth and exaggeration that he had been recounting.
CHAPTER XXVII.
”Mac-Homer, too, in prose or song, By the state-papers of Buffon, To deep researches led; A Gallo-Celtic scheme may botch, To prove the Ourang race were Scotch, Who from the Highlands fled.”
Lord John Townshend.
The intelligence of the return of Columbus, and of the important discoveries he had made, spread through Europe like wild-fire. It soon got to be, in the general estimation, the great event of the age. For several years afterward, or until the discovery of the Pacific by Balboa, it was believed that the Indies had been reached by the western pa.s.sage; and, of course, the problem of the earth's spherical shape was held to be solved by actual experiment. The transactions of the voyage, the wonders seen, the fertility of the soil of the east, the softness of its climate, its treasures in gold, spices, and pearls, and the curious things that the admiral had brought as proofs of his success, were all the themes of the hour. Men never wearied in discussing the subjects.
For many centuries had the Spaniards been endeavoring to expel the Moors from the peninsula; but as that much-desired event had been the result of time and a protracted struggle, even its complete success seemed tame and insignificant compared with the sudden brilliancy that shone around the western discoveries. In a word, the pious rejoiced in the hope of spreading the gospel; the avaricious feasted their imaginations on untold h.o.a.rds of gold; the politic calculated the increase of the power of Spain; the scientific exulted in the triumph of mind over prejudice and ignorance, while they hoped for still greater accessions of knowledge; and the enemies of Spain wondered, and deferred, even while they envied.