Passamonte was "senor" and "Don." And as for the
women--only the skin is dark--they were warm-hearted!
Gold and women and never any cold nor hunger nor toil!
The heathen to toil for you--and they could be taught to
make wine, with all these grapes dangling everywhere?
Heathen could do the gathering and pressing, and also the
gold hunting in rocks and streams. Spain would furnish the
mind and the habit of command. It were well to stay and
cultivate Hispaniola! The Admiral and those who wanted
to might take home the ships. Of course the Admiral would
come again, and with him ships and many men. No one
wanted, of course, never to see again Castile and Palos
and his family! But to stay in Hispaniola a while and
rest and grow rich,--that was what they wanted. And no
one could justly call them idle! If they found out all about
the land and where were the gold and the spices, was there
not use in that, just as much use as wandering forever on
the _Santa Maria_?

Mother earth was kind, kind, here, and she didn't have a
rod like mother country and Mother Church! They did not
say this last, but it was what they meant.

"You don't see the rod, that is all," said Juan Lepe.

But there had eventually to be colonies, and I knew that
the Admiral was revolving in his head the leaving in this
new world certain of our men, seed corn as it were, organs
also to gather knowledge against his speedy return with
power of ships and men. For surely Spain would be