Being obstinate by nature I mocked them till
they wearied of the play. But they left their marks on this arm and leg.
The scar I had got some months before in a clean battle."
"Tell me all. What did Robert Bovill seek? And where?"
"We sought the Mountain of God," said the seaman reverently.
"I never heard o't. My own Manoa, maybe, where gold is quarried like stone."
"Nay, not Manoa. The road to it is from the shore of the Mexican gulf.
There was much gold."
"You found it?"
"I found it and handled it. Enough, could we have brought it off, to
freight a dozen ships. Likewise jewels beyond the imagining of kings."
Raleigh had raised himself on his elbow, his face sharp and eager.
I cannot doubt you, for you could not lie were it to win salvation. But,
heavens! man, what a tale! Why did I not know of this before I broke my
fortune on Tom Keymis' mine?"
"I alone know of it, the others being dead."
"Who first told you of it?"
"Captain Bovill had the rumour from a dying Frenchman who was landed in his
last hours at Falmouth.
Pages:
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255