The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-02-07

CONTINUED.
"'Thou canst not leave him, Pedro!
cried Juanita, radiant. 'Ah, beloved,
thou canst not leave us!
mendoza tossed the child up in the
air, and caught and kissed him as he
came down. The boys bright brown
hair was tumbled and tossed about,
and on the left temple showed the
birthmark-the very copy of his
fathers, except that, instead Of black,
it was bright and glowing red. Pedro
detested this mark; more even than on
himself he detested this blood-red
mark upon his child's brow;
but now he forgot to be angry.
Even in the exhilaration of his
spirits and in the triumph of the
future, he rejoiced in it. He kissed
the spot of glowing color, as he said:
"'Yes, and rubies I will bring, too
-rubies as bright as the blood-red
heart on my Raphael's temple. ard
pearls as pure as the tears OF Juanlta.
And now, sweethearts, I must be
gone. The tide waits not on any man,
and must go with it. Adios, adols,
until I come again!
"But all this was changed now.
Weeks had passed since Mendoza had
said the last goodbye to the weeping
Juanita, and what he chose to call a
madman's voyage into IN unknown
sea- was like to be his only reward for
wasted time and long, perhaps an
endless parting from the only Great
ures he had ever loved. His golden
dreams had faded, and he bitterly felt
that he had thrown away the SUBJ
stance for the shadow. Juanita was
neither gold nor pearls nor rubies;
but she was real, and he was sudden
ly animated with great longing once
more to possess that which was real,
however insufficient, instead of the
shadowy varors of glorious riches that
could never be more than dream.
For these and for other reasons, he
opposed the further continuance of
the voyage, and he used all his powers
to foment dissatisfaction on board the
Santa Maria.
"This being the state of affairs in
the ship commanded by the admiral
himself, it may easily be surmised
with what difficulty the two Pinzons
maintained even a show of discipline
in the two vessels under their charge.
''To add to the general despair, the
winds suddenly blew contrary, then
ceased altogether. From this time
forward, for fourteen days, fate
seemed determined to tryof what stuff
was made the soul Of Christopher Co.
lumbus. According to his strangely
mistaken idea that he was sailing to-
ward the farthest shores OF the Indies,
the admiral of the ocean seas now
supposed himself to be nearing the
island of Cipango Japan, which, with
the contiguous islands, he had de-
lineated on chart for the guidance of
himself and his men.
CATER each latest disappointment,
the murmuring and despondency OF
the sailors increased, and although
the signs OF land continued and grew
more frequent, Columbus found 1t i'm
possible to again raise the spirits of
his crew. Even Martin Alfonso Pin
zon, who had hitherto been stanch
believer. in ultimate success, now be-
gan to waver in allegiance to the COM
mander of the expedition.
columbus observed this with a
momentary feeling of dismay. The
captain of the Pinta was an important
person in this small squadron; and
fearing that the ships might by
chance, or otherwise, get separated,
the admiral issued orders that they
should keep within sound of each
others voices. Pinzon suggested that
they should stand more to the south,
but Columbus resolutely maintained q
course due west. This further in
creased the feeling of dissatisfaction.
"Great flights of birds now ap-
peared; the color of the water varied
every few hours to paler blue, then to
clear gray, occasionally to light green
and back again to blue; dolphins were
seen in great numbers, and flying fish
leaped into the air like fiocks of birds,
often falling on the deck among the
sailors. These signs of land some
times diverted the men, and insensi-
bly, encouraged them; but the same
sullen silence prevailed; for Colum-
bus had declared that any man who
should again give premature notice Of
the appearance of land should thence
forth forfeit all claim to the proffered
reward.
SIT was on the evening of Octo-
Der 7 that the admiral himself de-
cided to alter his course. He had
observed flights of field birds
flying to the southwest, and he
knew they must be going toward food
and resting place. For three days
they sailed west southwest, and the
further they went the more encourag
ing became the signs of land. The
sailors, however, were not easily be-
guiled into new hope. The sight of
birds, small and of various colors,
such ss must have had their homes
not very far away-even the appear
ance Of tunny-fsh, heron, duck,
pelican, rs we'll as fresh, green herb
ago floating on the waterfall these
tokens they chose to regard as so
many delusions leading them to de-
strnction.
In the midst of general despond-
ency, Mendoza regained all his old
ambition and hope of gain. He was
a good sailor, and his intelligence far
exceeded that of the rest of the crew.
He understood as we'll rs Columbus