After that the alcalde of Palos and
others in authority had letters and warrants from the Queen
and the King, and they overbore everything, calling him
Don and _El Almirante_ and saying that he must be furnished
forth. Then came a day when everybody was gathered in
the square before the church of Saint George, and the alcalde
that had a great voice read the letters.
"I was there!" said Fernando. "I brought in fish that
morning."
"I, too!" quoth Sancho. "I had to buy sailcloth."
It was Pedro chiefly who talked. "They were from the
King and Queen, and the moral was that Palos must furnish
Don Cristoval Colon, Admiral of the Ocean-Sea--
and we thought that was a curious thing to be admiral of!
--two ships and all seamen needed and all supplies. A third
ship could be enterprised, and any in and around Palos
was to be encouraged to put in fortune and help. Ships
and those who went in them were to obey the said Don
Cristoval Colon or Columbus as though he were the Queen
and the King, the Bishop of Seville and the Marquis of
Cadiz! It didn't say it just that way but that was what it
meant. We were to follow him and do as he told us, or it
would be much the worse for us! We weren't to put in at
St. George la Mina on the coast of Africa, nor touch at the
King of Portugal's islands, and that was the whole of it!"
"All seamen were to be given good pay," said Sancho.
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