suaded the chief to accompany him alone into the edge of the forest.

He now took from his pocket a pair of handcuffs, bright and shining
manacles of which the untutored Indian had no conception of the use, but
whose brightness attracted him. Ojeda told him they were bracelets, which
the King of Spain had graciously sent him as a present, in recognition of
his fame as a warrior of skill and courage. The poor Indian probably
understood all this very imperfectly, but he was easily brought to view
the manacles as _Turey_ or a gift from Heaven, and willingly held out his
wrists that his guest might adorn them with those strange and splendid
bracelets.

In a moment his hands were secured, and before he could recover from his
surprise Ojeda, whose small frame concealed much strength, reached from
his saddle, seized the astonished chief, and by a great exertion of
muscular force lifted him from the ground and swung him up on the horse.
The warriors, who beheld this act with sudden suspicion, had no time to
use their weapons before the Spaniards had put spur to their horses and
dashed off into the forest. Two of them rode on each side of Ojeda, to
prevent the captive throwing himself from the horse. Threatened by their
swords and with his hands clasped in those fatal bracelets, Caonabo was
forced to submit, and was carried by his captors for many miles through
the heart of his own country to Fort Isabella, a stronghold which Columbus
had built at a site on the sea-coast, fronting a bay in which all his
vessels could ride in safety. Here the bold Ojeda, as the culmination of
his daring enterprise, delivered his captive to Columbus, and he was
locked up in a secure cell.

As the story goes, the brave cacique had a greater admiration for courage
than anything else in the world, and instead of hating Ojeda for the
crafty way in which he had been captured, he seemed to hold him in high
esteem as the bravest of the Spaniards. Whenever Ojeda appeared in his
cell he would rise and courteously salute him, while he treated the visits
of Columbus with haughty disregard. So far as the captive cacique could
make himself understood, the high rank of Columbus was nought to him. He
had no proof that he was a man of courage, while the manner in which Ojeda
had captured him showed him to be a brave man. To the bold Carib courage
was the first of virtues and the only one worthy of respect.

The poor Indian suffered the fate of most of his count