Great store of pearls and beaten gold My bold seafarers bring, But Thou hadst not a little coin To pay for Thy lodging. The trust that Thou hast placed in me, O may I not betray, Nor fail to save Thy people from The fires of Judgment Day! Be strong and stern, O heart, faint heart-- Stay not, O woman's hand, Till by this Cross I bear for Thee I have made clean Thy land! V THE MAN WHO COULD NOT DIE "Nombre de San Martin! who is that up there like a cat?" "Un gato! Cucarucha en palo!" "If Alonso de Ojeda hears of your calling him a cockroach on a mast, he will grind your ribs to a paste with a cudgel (os moliesen las costillas a puros palos)!" observed a pale, sharp-faced lad in a shabby doublet. The sailor who had made the comparison glanced at him and chuckled. "Your pardon--hidalgo. I have been at sea so much of late that the comparison jumped into my mind. Is he a caballero then?" "One of the household of the Duke of Medina Coeli. He is always doing such things. If he happened to think of flying, he would fly. Every one must be good at something." The performance which they had just been watching would fix the name of Ojeda very firmly in the minds of those who saw. Queen Ysabel, happening to ascend the tower of the cathedral at Seville with her courtiers and ladies, remarked upon the daring and skill of the Moorish builders. Everywhere in the newly conquered cities of Granada were their magnificent domes and lofty muezzin towers, often seeming like the airy minarets of a mirage. The next instant Alonso de Ojeda had walked out upon a twenty-foot timber projecting into space two hundred feet above the pavement, and at the very end he stood on one leg and waved the other in the air. Returning, he rested one foot against the wall and flung an orange clean over the top of the tower. He was small, though handsome and well-made, and he had now shown a muscular strength of which few had suspected him. It was natural that the sailor should be interested in the people of the court, for he had business there. The Admiral of the Indies was making his arrangements for his second voyage, and he had desired Juan de la Cosa to meet him at Seville. As the pilot stood waiting for the Admiral to come out from an interview with Fonseca he had a good look at many of the persons who were to join in this second expedition.