Notwithstanding this great confidence on the part of the admiral, most of those in the ship did not yet feel the same certainty in the result, although all felt the strongest hopes of falling in with land next day. Columbus saying no more on the subject, the former silence was soon resumed, and in a few minutes every eye was again turned to the west in anxious watchfulness.

In this manner the time passed away, the ships driving ahead with a speed much exceeding that of their ordinary rate of sailing, until the night had turned, when its darkness was suddenly illuminated by a blaze of light, and the report of a gun from the Pinta came struggling up against the fresh breeze of the trades.

"There speaketh Martin Alonzo!" exclaimed the admiral; "and we may be certain that he hath not given the signal idly. Who sitteth on the topgallant yard, there, on watch for wonders ahead?"

"Señor Don Almirante, it is I," answered Sancho. “I have been here since we sang the vesper hymn."

"Seest thou aught unusual westward? Look vigilantly, for we touch on mighty things."

"Naught, Señor, unless it be that the Pinta is lessening her canvas and the Niña is already closing with our fleet consort nay, I now see the latter shortening sail

also!"

"For these great tidings all honor and praise be to God! These are proofs that no false cry hath this time

ed their judgments. We will join our consorts ere take in a single inch of canvas."

verything was now in motion on board the Santa ia, which went dashing ahead for another half hour, n she came up with the two other caravels, both of ch had hauled by the wind, under short canvas, and e forging slowly through the water on different tacks. Come hither, Luis," said Columbus, "and feast thine 3 with a sight that doth not often meet the gaze of best of Christians."

The night was far from dark, a tropical sky glittering h a thousand stars. By the aid of such assistants it s possible to see several miles, and more especially to e objects on the margin of the ocean. When the ng man cast his eyes to leeward, as directed by Colum, he very plainly perceived a point where the blue of sky ceased and a dark mound rose from the water, etching for a few leagues southward.

Behold the Indies!" said Columbus; "the mighty blem is solved! This is doubtless an island, but a conent is near. Praise be to God!"

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER in Mercedes of Castile

COLUMBUS

Behind him lay the gray Azores,

Behind the Gate of Hercules;

Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.

The good mate said: "Now must we pray,
For lo! the very stars are gone.

Brave Admiral, speak; what shall I say?"

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66

Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"

My men grow mutinous day by day;

My men grow ghastly wan and weak.” The stout mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. "What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,

If we sight naught but seas at dawn?" "Why, you shall say at break of day,

'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!""

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said:
"Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead.
These very winds forget their way,

For God from these dread seas is gone. Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say He said, "Sail on! sail on! and on!'

This famous writer was born near Portsmouth, England, in 1812. His childhood was not a happy one, for he was a very small and delicate lad, and before his fourteenth year he had experienced many of the hardships of life.

In David Copperfield, one of his greatest stories, Dickens makes use of fiction to portray the trials and struggles of his boyhood. There are some bright tints in the picture, however, as when David speaks with loving memory of his mother and his childhood's home.

"I see the outside of our house with the latticed bedroom-windows standing open to let in the sweet-smelling