alongside again with the wary darts of serpents' tongues. As they became thoroughly warmed up to the work, and realized that their lives hung on the points of their swords, they grew more cautious and at the same time more deadly. The blood trickled from the cheek of Velasquez, and Christopher's sword arm had been slightly punctured between the elbow and the wrist. The blood, flowing down to the handle of his weapon, made it slippery, and his hold became uncertain. The conflict had just reached its height, when Father Philip, a priest friendly with Estevan, returning after a late visit to a dying sinner, was attracted to the spot by the clashing of the swords, and the heavy breathing of the combatants. Boldly rushing between them, he hurled them aside: "Put up your swords!" he commanded. Instinctively they obeyed, and each went his way. 14 CHAPTER XIV. LOVE AND HATE. WHILE young Estevan was making love in Spain, great events were transpiring in the New World, concerning most of which his mother's letters kept him posted. Years had rolled by since he left Cuba. He was still an outlaw, and as the hatred of the Cuban governor seemed to increase with time, he dared not return. His father still lingered in Mexico; but Cortez was soon to set out for Spain to lay their cause before the king, and Christina Estevan hoped he would win the good opinion of the sovereign, so that the banished husband might return. One of her letters contained the following: "One of your enemies is no more. I allude to Panfilo de Narvaez, who lost his eye in Mexico. Narvaez was ambitious to conquer a country and reap such rewards as have fallen to Cortez. From Charles V., he obtained a commission to explore the country which Ponce de Leon discovered sixteen years ago and named Florida. It seems, from what can be learned, that the expedition, which set out from here in June, 1527, reached Florida, where they found the natives quite hostile. They either made efforts to repulse the Spaniards, or kept aloof from them. The explorers landed and wandered through a strange, wild country, where the trees grow so tall that their tops seem to brush the sky, and through the densest of foliage the awful roar of the lion frequently smote their ears. Strange birds and beasts, such as the white men of Europe never looked on before, were found in abundance in this wonderful land, but no rich mines nor cities, such as in Mexico, were discovered. To delude them, the natives spoke of a hill of pure gold, and they wandered for a great distance, crossing rivers on rafts and scaling mountains. Many perished of hunger, or sunk in the swamps, and the Indians killed many more, so Narvaez discovered that they must all soon perish. They wandered back to the coast, but a handful of those who had landed in Florida. There some of them, under Caleza, were discovered and rescued; but it is quite certain that Narvaez perished, his frail bark foundering at sea. 66 "A man who is your father's friend is engaged in a most remarkable conquest. His name is Francisco Pizarro and he is the one who was with Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, our Christoval's father, when Don Pedrarias, Governor of Darien, had him beheaded. Pizarro says there is a vast country beyond the South Sea, greater in magnitude and wealth than Mexico. He also says there is a wonderful city of gold in this far-off land called Peru. Pizarro was promised help from Darien and from Spain to discover this country, but all failed him. For a long time he was left with a few followers at a strange island in an almost starving condition. At last a ship was sent to bring them off, and Pizarro refused to return. Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand from east to west. Turning toward the south he said: "Friends and comrades! On that side are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and death; on this side ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its Choose, each man, riches; here, Panama and its poverty. what best becomes a brave Castilian. to the south,' and he stepped across the line, followed by his brave pilot Ruiz; next by a Greek named Pedro de Candia, and eleven others. With these thirteen followers he commenced the conquest of Peru. Many months have elapsed and the wonderful land has not been reached. I have just learned that Pizarro contemplates going to Spain to enlist the king in his enterprise. Should he succeed, he will be the richest conqueror the world has ever known. "Before I close this letter, I must tell you of Christoval. She is now a beautiful woman, but as strange and mysterious as ever, and my own daughter does not love me more. She never sleeps, I think, without breathing your name in her prayers. She is meek, patient, and lovable, but I can't understand her. Every day she goes to the beach where you wandered so often, and gazes out across the ocean, as if looking to see you come back. Once I found her there bathed in tears. I asked her why she wept, but evading me, she ran to the house. I think she was weeping because her brother was away. I hope affairs may soon change so that you and your father may both be able to come home; but I fear, yet dare not tell Christoval so, that we are destined to spend our lives in different lands. For the present adieu. "Your mother, "CHRISTINA ESTEVAN." Carefully folding his mother's letter, Estevan placed it between the leaves of his book. Strange thoughts had been aroused by the perusal of the epistle. His father, whom he had not seen since childhood, his mother, brother, sister, and Christo val, all seemed to claim anew their place in his affections. But that part which aroused the latent ambition in his breast was the reference to Francisco Pizarro. "He is coming to Spain to fit out for the conquest of Peru, the wonderful land of which old Zuna the fugitive slave told me. There are the cities whose houses are roofed with go with him," declared Estevan. comes, I will join him.” gold. I will "When he His love for Inez Oviedo had not abated his ambition to become an explorer. There were more worlds to conquer and he resolved to conquer them; but for a while longer he dallied at the feet of the beautiful being of his adoration, reading to her the poetry and romances of the day, or amusing her with his guitar. He kept from her ears the story of his encounter with Antonio. He and his rival frequently met, but they never spoke. The student was more often at the castle than at the convent, and was always warmly welcomed. He often went riding with Doña Inez, and on one of these occasions met Velasquez in the road. He greeted them with silent amazement and hatred. His look bode the successful lover no good; but what cared Estevan for danger, while basking in the sunlight of the señorita's love? He found Inez such a fountain of wisdom and purity that he could |