hink that should twenty
thousand of the Spaniards land here, they would be irresistible.

"However, I do not think that there is any chance of such an army
being brought against you. Rich and powerful as Spain is, the
expense of preparing such an expedition, and the ships required to
carry it, would be so vast that I do not think she would undertake
it. Moreover, she is always so occupied with wars at home that she
could not spare such a force for a distant expedition; and I do
not, therefore, think you have any ground for alarm, in the
present.

"I believe that in a very short time Spanish ships may arrive at
your ports, and will open trade with your people. I wonder that
they have not, long since, found their way here. Trade would be
beneficent to both. They have many commodities that would be most
useful to you. You have others that they would prize greatly."

"What are our products they would most value?" the king asked.

"First, and most of all, gold," Roger said. "It is with us the
scarcest and most valuable of metals, and all things are valued by
it. As with you bags of cocoa are your standard of value, so with
them are pieces of gold. A wide estate is worth so much gold; a
ship, or a horse, or a suit of armor, so many pieces of gold; and
so through everything. All your delicate embroidery work would be
valuable in their eyes, as being strange and different to anything
we possess; while on their side they could provide you with silks,
and satins, and velvets, and cloths, and other fabrics new to you;
to say nothing of arms and iron work vastly superior to any you
possess."

One of the old counselors whispered something in the king's ear,
and the latter said to the queen:

"Maclutha, I would talk these matters over with my counselors. I am
sure that you and my sister are longing to hear, from Roger
Hawkshaw, all about the ladies of his race, and their dresses and
fashions. Take him, therefore, into your room, while we discuss
this matter here."

The two ladies and Roger thereupon went into another apartment,
similar in style to that which they had left. The conversation here
took a light turn, unrestrained by the presence of the king and his
counselors. They plied him with questions, which Roger answered to
the best of his power. He was soon furnished with paper, pens,
brushes, and paint; and he drew them several sketches, showing
ladies in European fashions, which filled his companions with
surprise. I