sented himself at court with
his two nephews, Ferdinand and Diego, both of whom were now in the
service of Prince Juan as pages. Ferdinand and Isabella seem to have
received Bartholomew kindly. They liked this capable navigator, who had
much of Christopher's charm of manner, and was more a man of the world
than he. Much more practical also; Ferdinand would be sure to like him
better than he liked Christopher, whose pompous manner and long-winded
speeches bored him. Bartholomew was quick, alert, decisive and
practical; he was an accomplished navigator--almost as accomplished as
Columbus, as it appeared. He was offered the command of the three ships
which were being prepared to go to Espanola with supplies; and he duly
arrived there after a prosperous voyage. It will be remembered that
Christopher had, so far as we know, kept the secret of the road to the
new islands; and Bartholomew can have had nothing more to guide him than
a rough chart showing the islands in a certain latitude, and the distance
to be run towards them by dead-reckoning. That he should have made an
exact landfall and sailed into the Bay of Isabella, never having been
there before, was a certificate of the highest skill in navigation.

Unfortunately it was James who was in charge of the colony; Bartholomew
had no authority, for once his ships had arrived in port his mission was
accomplished until Christopher should return and find him employment.
He was therefore forced to sit still and watch his young brother
struggling with the unruly Spaniards. His presence, however, was no
doubt a further exasperation to the malcontents. There existed in
Isabella a little faction of some of the aristocrats who had never,
forgiven Columbus for employing them in degrading manual labour; who had
never forgiven him in fact for being there at all, and in command over
them. And now here was another woolweaver, or son of a wool-weaver, come
to put his finger in the pie that Christopher has apparently provided so
carefully for himself and his family.

Margarite and Buil and some others, treacherous scoundrels all of them,
but clannish to their own race and class, decide that they will put up
with it no longer; they are tired of Espanola in any case, and Margarite,
from too free indulgence among the native women, has contracted an
unpleasant disease, and thinks that a sea voyage and the attentions of a
Spanish doctor will be good for him. It is easy for them to pu