) Part of the moneys due Columbus, if ever
collected, were to be spent on that long-dreamed-of Crusade to recover
the Holy Sepulchre. His remains were to be taken out to San Domingo.
These were a few of the instructions he left.
The next day, May 20, 1506, came another whisper of springtide, and the
faithful Diego Mendez, who "navigated three hundred leagues in a canoe,"
came to see him; his sons, Diego and Fernando, too, and his brother
Bartholomew; and as the dim old eyes saw these affectionate faces
bending over him, he counseled Diego always to love his younger brother
Fernando, as he had always loved Bartholomew; and Diego pressed his hand
and promised. Then the old man rested quietly for a time. He was clad in
the frock of a Franciscan monk, the same sort of frock that good Friar
Juan Perez wore when he welcomed him to La Rabida.
They opened the window to let in the May warmth, and Christopher sniffed
feebly. Did he recall the beautiful climate of Haiti which he said was
"like May in Cordova"? Let us hope, at least, that it was peaceful
recollections like this that flitted through his vanishing senses, and
not recollections of the horrible hurricanes and insurrections and
shipwrecks and prisons that made up part of his eventful life. He made
no sound, not even a whisper, so we will never know what thoughts the
May warmth brought to him.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215