Their Mariposa Legend | Page 8

Englishman's thoughts
when he left her than faithlessness to his word. On reaching the ship
again he had gone directly to his cabin. Here he took from its small but
richly embroidered case a slender chain of gold, threaded so closely
with garnets that even in the dim light of the one flaring lantern, the
only illumination the room could boast, it glowed, a glancing stream of
crimson, in his hand. This he carried to the light and as he examined it
under the lantern he smiled.
"Never saw the little maid such jewels before, I'll warrant me! Yet,
beshrew my heart, but she deserves them. Indian though she be, still is
she, nevertheless, the loveliest woman that ever mine eyes have looked
upon!"
Then, stowing the necklace carefully away in his belt, he went at once
in search of the commander.
But at this point an unexpected difficulty had presented itself. He found
Sir Francis in close conversation with his pilot.
"Marry, Sir, an it fit n'er so ill with thy wish," the keen-eyed old
mariner was saying. "I still maintain it were a shame to lose this wind.
Gift or no gift, I've sailed these latitudes before, my lord, and by heaven
I swear we're not like to have such another breeze, no, not till the
change of the moon, and that you know yourself, sir, is a good fortnight
hence."
Sir Francis, striding back and forth within the narrow confines of the
quarter deck, appeared to be weighing the old man's words with
unusual care. At length, however, he turned as one who has made his
decision.
"By the mass and it shall be even as you say, Jarvis," he declared. "I
think myself 'twere well to push on at once. At the most they be but

Indians!" The last words were spoken in a lower tone as if to himself.
"'Twill matter little either way!"
It was at this point that young Harold stepped hastily forward. For,
strangely enough, although on the morning of that same day such a
proceeding would scarcely have appealed to him as being at all
unfitting or out of the ordinary, yet now it seemed unthinkable.
"But, good sir," he interrupted, "you would not so belie your promise!
To do as Jarvis here advises, - by heaven, 'twould be neither truthful
nor honorable! 'Tis not like you, Sir Francis!"
Drake shot at him a surprised glance from under his bushy eyebrows,
then shrugged his shoulders.
"Prate not to me, my lord, of truth or honor amongst these savages," he
replied. "Did not their chief himself but even now lie to me? Well knew
the rascally heathen where the Spaniard hides! The truth indeed! They
know not the meaning of such words."
In vain the younger man petitioned to be allowed to deliver the
promised gift with the aid of his own retinue.
"Thou can'st not get under way for two hours at best, sir," he pleaded,
"and well within that time I will be back. 'Tis but a stone's throw to the
shore!"
But Drake first scoffed at his rashness, then, finally losing patience, as
commander of the expedition he sternly forbade him or any of his men
to leave the ship.
"We dare not lose the wind," he finished emphatically, "and are like to
start at any minute." Then, turning on his heel, he strode away to his
cabin and shut the door behind him.
Left in this unceremonious fashion, young Harold considered a moment,
glancing with anxious eyes at the dim line of the coast just visible in
the darkness. For some minutes he leaned upon the rail, lost in thought.

"The old man will e'en have to bear his disappointment," he muttered at
length, "but, an' heaven help me, the maid shall not!"
Then he, too, left the deck to seek out his favorite retainer, the dark,
swarthy man who had sat that morning in the prow of the long boat. To
him he explained his difficulty, adding grimly:
"And so thou see'st, Mortimer, that I have work cut out for thee!"
He threw an arm about the other's shoulders and in this familiar fashion
the two men paced the deck together, conversing in low tones.
"And besides," observed the nobleman as they paused a moment before
parting, "would'st know the truth about the matter? For all old Jarvis'
prating, the Golden Hind is not like to sail before the dawn, no, nor
even then! Jarvis is ever the man to make a show of much hurry, but - "
he snapped his fingers scornfully, "only aid me now, unseen by anyone,
to launch the Zephir, and by our virgin queen herself I swear, when
once again we see the shores of Merry England, thou shalt find 'twas
well worth