“To the southeast,” answered Diego.
“Diego,” whispered Martin Alonzo, “I will trust you. Keep your counsel still. I think the time has come when I can show that proud upstart that he is not supreme. Diego, I shall leave him to find his own gold, and I will go find mine. Ah, I shall not prevent free dealing in it, should ever we come upon it. Quiet, boy, and you shall be satisfied for the gold he took from you.”
Chapter XX.
It was all wrong and utterly indefensible for Martin Alonzo to take the attitude he did towards the admiral, and Martin Alonzo knew it quite as well as any one.
Of course he justified himself to himself, and rehearsed in his own mind how he had contributed money and influence, without which the voyage could not have been undertaken; but down in his heart he knew that he was bent on a wrong deed, and it must have been borne in on his better nature that the real cause of his dislike for the admiral was born of a union of jealousy and an insubordination which could not brook authority from any one.
Diego felt that Martin Alonzo was intent on a thing that was wrong—his cousin’s manner indicated that—but he could not reason on it; for he did not clearly understand what the relations were between the captain and the admiral. It was generally felt that Martin Alonzo was the life and soul of the enterprise, and that the honors and authority which were to fall to the admiral were quite undeserved.
Besides, Diego was too young, too happy in the excitement of the voyage, to care much. He admired his cousin and loved him, and would willingly follow his lead; and as he felt no responsibility in the matter—having none indeed, for his clear duty was simply to obey the orders of his captain—he gave himself no concern either at that time or later.
It was on the morning of the 19th of November that the admiral finally gave up hope of gaining anything by remaining on the coast of Cuba, and turned the prows of his ships towards that island which he called Babeque. The course set was due east, and the Pinta, as usual, took the lead.