The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-01-31
lFe s. 3paDish e 7easore.
A NOVEL.
Dy N1rs. elizabeth Q. 0nter.
A NOVEL.
@p Sors. elizabeth G. Ginter.
(Copvricht 1892 and 1875. by ROBERT EosSEE's soNs)
isabella CASTELAR.)

w AOt' "ueu o@'S NV
you?"
REALLY, truly, Polly?"
"Better than my life!'
He had not meant to say so much.
As he tcld himself afterward, it had
been a mere accident. He certainly
had not meant to commit himself SO
irrevocably; but when Polly spoke
these words: "Better than my life"
and in speaking them raised her pretty
rosy mouth toward his, she was so
irresistible that Stanley bent and
kissed her, and was ever atterward
rather proud of the impulse that made
him do so; for as he declared to him
self:
"a fellow would be brute not to
kiss pretty girl when she so EVIL
dently expected it."
"Hush!' said Polly. Then, gently
Withdrawing from the half embrace in
which he held her: "Here comes
Lorita.'' -
And almost with the words Dolores
entered. She held the roll of manu-
script in her hand, and was evidently
ready to begin the reading of it at
once; and nodding slightly to Stanley,
almost as if she had already seen him.
she seated herself at little distance
and near one of the windows.
eve shall not be interrupted" said
Polly. That is why I received you
here in this little boudoir, Clarence.
You are the only gentleman, except
papa, who ever enters this room. 1t
is sacred to my girl-friends, and I
hope you will appreciate the honor. l
have given orders that no one shall
interrupt MS, Rita"
Dolores answered only by one swift
look of thanks, and, smoothing out
the pages of writing, she glanced bur-
riedly through them.
"It is here" she said. 81 make no
apology for it. And I can only guess,
the writing being my fathers, that he
was the compiler as we'll as the writer.
I have called it "A Legend of the Men-
dozas.'
"a LEGEND OF THE MENDOZAS.
"PART FIRST.
ga tropic; sea so beautiful that
nature furnished no other blue so
deep, so rich, so wonderful with which
one can compare it. A. tropic sky with
out one cloud as far as the eye can
see, and in the west the fading tints
of sunset dying in soft blending of
purple, gold, mauve, pink and palest
green-a color that, as it slowly fades
into the night, leaves on the soul a
hush like the last notes of exquisite
music-and through all, the warm,
sweet breath of the tropics blown from
lands of spice and laden with the per-
fume of strange, rare fruits and
flowers.
"Over this tranquil sea were sailing
three ships, bound for shore to
which it may be no ship had ever
sailed; certain it is, no such ships had
ever till then been seen in these waters,
for they came from many thousand
miles away, and they carried the first
links of the great chain that was hence
forth to bind the old world to the new.
The largest and the chief of these YES
sells was called the Santa Maria, and
on its deck now stood the man whom
Queen Isabella of Spain had named
Our Admiral of the Seas, Don Chris
topher Columbus. His was a form
and face to attract attention anywhere
@D
envy and detraction. He was taller
by several inches than any other man
on board, well.formed and muscular,
and he possessed the elevated and dig
niied bearing that bespeaks a con-
science at peace with itself, a heart
devoted to the worlds good and a
mind full of noble, lofty, unselfsh
thoughts. His face was long, some
what thin, and marked with certain
lines peculiar to discoverers and in
ventors. His complexion was fair and
inclined to ruddiness, and his skin
of the extreme delicacy that becomes
freckled on exposure to the sun. His
cheek bones were high and his nose
of fine, but pronounced aquiline.
His eyes were clear, pale gray that
deepened almost to black under the
stress of feeling. When excited they
glowed as if lit by inward fire, but in
repose they were softly yet lustrously
luminous. The whole countenance
denoted the temperament which be-
longs to genius; nervous, sensitive,
thoughtful and highly imaginative.
Even at the early age of thirty
the hair of Columbus had turned
gray; but now it wns snow-white;
and reaching almost to his shoul-
ders. it gave him an air CT
extreme benevolence as well as of pa
trierchal authority. His dress was
simple but rich. and his manners, en-
gaging and affable, we're the outward
expression of that only true breeding,
gentleness and Christian charity.
"Of the other two vessels of this
fleet, one was called the Pinta, and
the other the Nina. Tney were mere
barks called caravals, open, but built
high at the prov and stern, with fore
castles and cabins for the accommo-
dation of the crew, the Santa Maria
being the only one of the three pro-
vided with a full deck. The Pinta
was commanded by Martin Alonzo
Pinzon; and the Nina was in command
of another Of the name, Vicente
Yanez Plnzon. The crews of these
ships, though numbering some few
good and honest sailors, were mostly
worthless men who had been pressed
into this service by any means that
a..,ll Ia fornI Ernnn tho fret than