Molly Elliot Seawell

“ On the opposite heights the improvised city of Santa Fé stretched away, grimly watchful of the Moorish stronghold. Beyond that still were the long lines of the encamped armies of Castile and Arragon. All the troops were under arms to greet the Queen. In a large open space between the armies was a splendid pavilion, of painted linen outside and luxuriously equipped inside, which King Ferdinand had caused to be prepared for his Queen. Over it hung the Gonfalon, the gorgeous banner of the two kingdoms, bearing on one side the Castilian coat-of-arms and on the other that of Arragon. ”

“ The following day the Moorish king and all his followers passed out of Granada and left Spain free from the foreign invaders after nearly eight hundred years. The joy and triumph of the day inspired every heart, even the torturing soul of the great Admiral, who was forgotten and overlooked in the universal excitement. All the highest nobles and grandees of Spain—the warriors, the statesmen, the scholars, all that made Spain great—were assembled on that January day to see the surrender of Boabdil. Only one man, and he the greatest of them all, was not provided with a place and a position. ”

“ Instantly the entire population of Palos, of Moguer, of Huelva, and the country-side seemed rushing to the seashore and watching in the glorious sunrise the banner of Spain flying from the caravel. It was all so rapid that Diego was stunned by it, the excited crowds of people, the sudden presence of Juan Perez and De Quintanilla, the surging multitudes cheering, weeping, laughing, the women shrieking with joy and falling into each other’s arms, the [Pg 203] men mad with excitement, every pilot of Palos running for his boat to have the honor of bringing the caravel up the river. ”

“ On one side rode a dark young man, not handsome, but with a soldier’s eye. This was Gonzalez de Cordova, afterward the celebrated general who won deathless glory in Italy. On the other side rode the most beautiful knight Diego had ever seen. He looked the embodiment of beauty, such as the Greek sculptors gave to their young gods. It was Ponce de Leon, later on to discover Porto Rico and Florida in his search for the fabled Bimini—the fountain of perpetual youth. It was Don Felipe who gave Diego the names of these and many others in the gorgeous cavalcade. ”

“ In the fields the peasants tilled the rich earth and laughed and sang as they toiled.
Don Tomaso was the leader likely to be most popular with youths of the age of Diego and Don Felipe. He rode ahead, trolling in his rich voice the canzonets and popular ballads of the day—all relating to love and war. His famous chestnut horse seemed proud of being bestridden by so superb a horseman, and whinnied with delight and caracoled as they traveled rapidly along the highway. ”

“ When the Daredevil Knight, the master of riding, brought up the rear of the line, his horse, too—a sinewy chestnut charger—stood on his haunches and then came down gracefully on his knees as if making an obeisance to the Queen, then rose and stood as still as a bronze horse. The Queen was charmed with this pretty trick of horsemanship, and, leaning over, bowed and smiled and waved her hand to the Daredevil Knight. Then the exercises began, Prince Juan always riding first and the Daredevil Knight last. They galloped around the ring twice to show their manner of ordinary riding. ”

“ The next morning Diego and Don Felipe were not surprised when Fray Piña began at once the same routine that had been followed at La Rabida and at the castle of Langara. It was irksome to them and tantalizing to be [Pg 75] held down to books and studies in their narrow little room, while living in the midst of a great camp with all its charms and fascinations for brave and imaginative boys. But they knew too much to appeal against it, for Fray Piña’s stern rule was upheld by the Admiral and by Doña Christina. Still they enjoyed their new life and felt as if they were living every minute of it. ”

“ Each day my father has been in my mind, and I dream every night of him. Ah, my Prince, it is true!”
Then, seizing Don Felipe in his strong arms, the two youths hugged each other and rubbed their cheeks together in a rapture of boyish affection. Their companions around them broke into an involuntary cheer, led by Prince Juan. They were young and sanguine, and found it easy to believe in anything which redounded to the glory and honor of their country. ”

“ The grooms were bringing in the chargers, the finest breeds of Andalusia, celebrated for its horses, their coats like satin, their muscles like steel, their hoofs black and polished. The horses knew well enough for what they were brought, and were keen for the sport. Before mounting, Don Tomaso de Gama, the Daredevil Knight, reckoned the most accomplished horseman in Spain and master of the riding-school, appeared. He, too, wore riding-dress and a glittering casque. He gave the order at once to mount, that they might have a warming-up canter before the Queen and her ladies arrived. ”

“ I, in my turn, declared that if I return I shall give to Spain far more than what I claim—the title of Admiral of the Ocean Seas and Viceroy and Captain-General of all the lands I discover, and my son Diego to be page-in-waiting to Prince Juan in my absence and to become a grandee of Spain if I return successful. If the spirit of pride be in this, it is a just and honorable pride. I ask only what I shall acquire by my own strength. ”

“ Diego felt as if the wine of courage were pouring into his veins. He was so quiet, so smiling, so at ease, that [Pg 159] he seemed worthy to be the son of his father. The little Fernando wept when the Admiral, from the Santa Maria’s poop, waved his hand back at the child; but Diego, taking the boy in his arms, said cheerfully:
“Do not weep, Fernando. Our father will return, bringing you wonderful things never seen before in Spain, and he will at once ask if you have been good and brave. If you weep you will be neither good nor brave.” ”

“ The warder, like all the people of Spain, was eager to know something of the wonderful rumors that agitated Barcelona.
“Is it true, sir,” he asked of Don Tomaso, who, once inside the walls, was preparing to mount, “that the Genoese captain has returned after finding a new world?”
“As true as my sword, which is of the best steel made in Toledo, and never misses fire,” answered Don Tomaso, flinging himself upon his horse and galloping off. ”

“ I shall confess myself this night to the Prior, and I desire you to do the same, and hope that Don Felipe may do likewise. At daybreak, in the Church of St. George, I desire that you receive Holy Communion with me and with all those who sail with me. We go not as unbelievers, but as men humbly asking God’s help in crossing His oceans, guided by His stars by night and His sun by day, and sustained by His protecting hand. Go now and sleep.”
“Give me your blessing, and I will go,” replied Diego. ”

“ And another thing will make me guard my behavior and control my tongue, which will be this: that my father has done so much, not only for Spain, but for the whole world, that the discovery is so vast, it means so much to mankind, that for me, the son of the discoverer, to be boastful would be mean beyond comparison. I have learned much, my father, in the time that I have lived at court. I have heard the conversation of the great Queen with mighty men like the Cardinal Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza and the Duke of Medina Cœli, and with statesmen and great generals and admirals and learned men. ”

“ SUNRISE OFF THE BAR OF SALTES THE sight of the monastery and the thought of seeing his little brother and the good Prior and Fray Piña filled the heart of Diego with joy. He had an imaginative mind, and he lived over in thought and spoke to Don Felipe of the extraordinary change that had taken place in his fortunes since the day, nearly eight years before, when his father, a poor and unhonored and unsuccessful applicant at the courts of kings, jeered at and disbelieved, and Diego, himself a little ragged and barefooted boy, had stopped at La Rabida to ask for a dole of bread. ”

“ What a good woman your mother must be, Don Felipe!”
“The best on earth,” answered Don Felipe. “As good as Queen Isabella.”
Diego then unbuckled his sword and laid it on the table, and Don Felipe did the same. Then came a long pause before Diego spoke.
“This is the first day,” he said, “that we have worn swords as men. Ought we not to consecrate them with prayer as knights do?”
“Yes,” answered Don Felipe. “My mother has told me that my father, when first he was girt with a sword, spent the night in prayer on his knees before the altar of the Cathedral of Seville.” ”

“ The King and the Queen were now approaching very near. The face of King Ferdinand shone with triumph; and Queen Isabella, although calmness and dignity itself, had a glorious light in her eyes and a flush in her cheek deeper than any one had ever seen there before. Her patriotism as a Castilian, her pride as a sovereign, her earnestness as a Christian, were all exalted by the driving forth from her kingdom of the enemies of the [Pg 99] people and of the Christian religion. It was, indeed, a stupendous event for Spain. ”

“ I have been under the care of the Duke de Medina Cœli, a man [Pg 210] reckoned fit to train the heir to the throne, and with the nineteen other royal pages, all selected for their character and intelligence. The Queen does not value rank exclusively, and means that the companions of Prince Juan shall all be worthy of his friendship. When you sailed away, my father, I was a boy; now I am a man, I think as a man and feel as a man, and I hope I shall be able to act as a man. I cannot help feeling in my heart that I am the son of the greatest man in the world ”

“ The mariners could face ordinary and even extreme danger: but to set forth into the boundless wastes of unknown seas; to meet mysterious dangers, perhaps to be engulfed in great abysses; or to sail on and on until they died of thirst and starvation; to find land, it might be, peopled with savages who would murder them on landing; to encounter frightful monsters on land and sea which might devour them—these and many other horrors terrified the souls of the bravest sailors of the time. ”

“ The Princess Katharine, destined also for a tragic fate as the wife of the eighth [Pg 130] Henry of England, though then but fourteen years of age, also resembled the Queen, and had a dignity and a fearlessness of character that was to sustain her through her stormy and unfortunate life. Diego felt all confidence when he looked into the honest and kindly eyes of Prince Juan, and thought to himself: “This must be a noble prince, being the son of his mother.” ”