Days of the Discoverers

Days of the Discoverers, by L. Lamprey

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Title: Days of the Discoverers
Author: L. Lamprey
Illustrator: Florence Choate Elizabeth Curtis
Release Date: March 23, 2006 [EBook #18038]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Produced by Juliet Sutherland, LN Yaddanapudi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

[Illustration: "'I will tell you where there is plenty of it'"--Frontispiece]

GREAT DAYS IN AMERICAN HISTORY SERIES

DAYS OF THE DISCOVERERS
BY
L. LAMPREY
Author of "In the Days of the Guild", "Masters of the Guild", etc.
ILLUSTRATED BY
FLORENCE CHOATE and ELIZABETH CURTIS
NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1921, by
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages
Made in the United States of America

TO FORESTA
Upon the road to Faerie, O there are many sights to see,-- Small woodland folk may one discern Housekeeping under leaf and fern, And little tunnels in the grass Where caravans of goblins pass, And airy corsair-craft that float On wings transparent as a mote,-- All sorts of curious things can be Upon the road to Faerie!
Along the wharves of Faerie-- There all the winds of Christendie Are musical with hawk-bell chimes, Carillons rung to minstrels' rimes, And silver trumpets bravely blown From argosies of lands unknown, And the great war-drum's wakening roll-- The reveill�� of heart and soul-- For news of all the ageless sea Comes to the quays of Faerie!
Across the fields to Faerie There is no lack of company,-- The world is real, the world is wide, But there be many things beside. Who once has known that crystal spring Shall not lose heart for anything. The blessing of a faery wife Is love to sweeten all your life. To find the truth whatever it be-- That is the luck of Faerie!
Above the gates of Faerie There bends a wild witch-hazel tree. The fairies know its elfin powers. They wove a garland of the flowers, And on a misty autumn day They crowned their queen--and ran away! And by that gift they made you free Of all the roads of Faerie!

CONTENTS
PAGE To Foresta v
I ASGARD THE BEAUTIFUL (1348) 1 The Viking's Secret 17
II THE RUNES OF THE WIND-WIFE (1364) 18 The Navigators (1415-1460) 34
III SEA OF DARKNESS (1475) 35 Sunset Song 48
IV PEDRO AND HIS ADMIRAL (1492) 50 The Queen's Prayer 65
V THE MAN WHO COULD NOT DIE (1493-1494) 66 The Escape 80
VI LOCKED HARBORS (1497) 81 Gray Sails 93
VII LITTLE VENICE (1500) 94 The Gold Road 104
VIII THE DOG WITH TWO MASTERS (1512) 105 Cold o' the Moon (1519) 117
IX WAMPUM TOWN (1508-1524) 121 The Drum 133
X THE GODS OF TAXMAR (1512-1519) 134 The Legend of Malinche 148
XI THE THUNDER BIRDS (1519-1520) 150 Moccasin Flower 165
XII GIFTS FROM NORUMBEGA (1533-1535) 167 The Mustangs 181
XIII THE WHITE MEDICINE MAN (1528-1536) 182 Lone Bayou (1542) 195
XIV THE FACE OF THE TERROR (1564) 197 The Destroyers 214
XV THE FLEECE OF GOLD (1561-1577) 215 A Watch-dog of England (1583) 237
XVI LORDS OF ROANOKE (1584) 238 The Changelings 250
XVII THE GARDENS OF HEL��NE (1607-1609) 252 The Wooden Shoe 269
XVIII THE FIRES THAT TALKED (1610) 270 Imperialism 282
XIX ADMIRAL OF NEW ENGLAND (1600-1614) 284 The Discoverers 299
BIBLIOGRAPHY 300

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"'I will tell you where there is plenty of it'" (in color) Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
"'And Freya came from Asgard in her chariot drawn by two cats'" (in color) 4
"Nils marked out an inscription in Runic letters" 30
"The miniature globe took form as the children watched, fascinated" 44
"He proposed that Caonaba should put on the gift the Spanish captain had brought" 78
"A sapling, bent down, was attached to a noose ingeniously hidden" 86
"The natives seemed prepared to traffic in all peace and friendliness" (in color) 132
"Cortes flung about his shoulders his own cloak" 146
"Moteczuma awaited them in the courtyard" (in color) 162
"Cartier read from his service-book" 176
"The creatures darkened the plain almost as far as the eye could see" 190
"'Gentlemen, whence does this fleet come?'" 204
"Drake was silent, fingering the slender Milanese poniard" 226
"If he had to wear her fetters, they should at least be golden" 244
"The Grand Master of the day entered the dining hall" 266

DAYS OF THE DISCOVERERS

I
ASGARD THE BEAUTIFUL
A red fox ran into the empty church. In the middle of the floor he sat up and looked around. Nothing stirred--not the painted figures on the wooden walls, nor the boy who now stood in the doorway. This boy was gray-eyed and flaxen-haired, and might have been eleven or twelve years old. He was looking for the good old priest, Father Ansgar, and the wild