For a second it seemed as if he had, indeed, forgotten himself, and would continue to do so, ere he would yield his point. But a better judgment prevailed and he held his peace; though it was impossible for him to quite control his temper. He caught Diego’s hand in his and emptied the rings out of it upon the sand, and then swept both of the boys along with him as he walked sternly away.
“‘NOT BARTER FOR GOLD?’ CRIED MARTIN ALONZO.”
He said nothing to either of the boys, but stalked along in a towering rage, and, when he had come to his boats, gave the order that the men should be collected, so that they might go aboard for the night.
As for Diego and Juan, they were divided between indignation at the manner in which their cherished gold had been taken from them and dismay at the attitude Martin Alonzo had assumed towards Christoval Colon, whose lofty manners as well as whose dignities awed them.
“I wish,” said Diego, who could never be wholly repressed, “that that old man had not thrust his nose into my face.”
“Or that you had wrung it off, as I supposed you intended to do,” said Juan.
“Hush! Martin Alonzo is looking this way. If he should see us smile now, I think he would make but one bite of our two heads. But, say, Juan, if we may not traffic in gold—cotton I would not have as a gift—what is to become of us?”
“There are the precious stones.”