"Is this cross, then, held so common, that it hath gotten to be the subject of discourse even for men of thy class?"
"Hearkee, Señorita; a man like me is more valued, on board a caravel, in a tossing sea, than he is likely to be here, in Barcelona, on solid ground. We went to Cipango to set up crosses, and to make Christians; so that all hath been in character. As for the Lady Ozema, she taketh more notice of me than of another, as I was in the battle that rescued her from Caonabo, and so she showed me the cross the day we anchored in the Tagus, or just before the admiral ordered me to bring his letter to her Highness. Then it was that she kissed the cross, and held it to her heart, and said it was 'Mercedes.'"
"This is most strange, Sancho! Hath this princess attendants befitting her rank and dignity?"
"You forget, Señorita, that the Niña is but a small craft, as her name signifieth, and there would be no room for a large train of lords and ladies. Don Christopher and Don Luis are honorable enough to attend on any princess; and for the rest, the Doña Ozema must wait until our gracious queen can command her a retinue befitting her birth. Besides, my lady, these Haytian dames are simpler than our Spanish nobles, half of them thinking clothes of no great use in that mild climate."
Mercedes looked offended and incredulous; but her curiosity and interest were too active, to permit her to send the man away without further question.
"And Don Luis de Bobadilla was ever with the admiral?" she said; "ever ready to support him, and foremost in all hazards?"
"Señorita, you describe the count as faithfully as if you had been present from first to last. Had you but seen him dealing out his blows upon Caonabo's followers, and the manner in which he kept them all at bay, with the Doña Ozema near him, behind the rocks, it would have drawn tears of admiration from your own lovely eyes."
"The Doña Ozema near him—behind rocks—and assailants held at bay!"
"Si, Señora; you repeat it all like a book. It was much as you say, though the Lady Ozema did not content herself with being behind the rocks, for, when the arrows came thickest, she rushed before the count, compelling the enemy to withhold, lest they should slay the very prize they were battling for; thereby saving the life of her knight."
"Saving his life!—the life of Luis—of Don Luis de Bobadilla—an Indian princess?"