Captain from castile

It was only by luck that De Vargas, glancing at the door a moment later, observed that the wicket had been once more slid back. But why should the man want to spy on him while he was eating? He could have remained inside and watched for all Pedro cared.
Then, as if from nowhere, a shadow of suspicion crossed De Vargas's mind. It was queer about the Alcante: men of the jailer's stripe were not apt to turn down a good drink. The fellow had made a point of praising the wine. It was still queerer about the wicket. Pedro remembered his father's estimate of the turnkey. Why not put it to the test?


The writer wrote this in 1945. So he uses a lot of words most writers do not use now days. Or would use a different word for the same meaning. Like some of the words the writer used in this passage are: wicket, queer, apt,turnkey and jailer's stripe. These are words I do not remember coming across in any other book's I have read. But I like writers using older phrases.

Captain from castile

The mountains of gold which Cortes and other pro-molters of the expedition had promised were there-or, at least, if not mountains, high stacks of gold bars, each stamped with its value, into which grains, nuggets, and Aztec works of art alike had been melted down. There were boxes, too, containing turquoises, emeralds, jade, opals, moonstones, chalchuites, trinkets of mosaic. There were mantles of gorgeous feather work in heaps, precious objects of shell or silver richly engraved.

Yes, dreams had come true with a vengeance, dreams which had launched the ships in Cuba, which had led the adventures from Spain, which had imposed the hardships of voyage, march and battle. For many, the object of their lives lay now within grasp, to be snatched, embraced, stuffed into wallets and bags, wrapped into bundles. Hunger, thirst, wounds, impending dangers, were forgotten in this delirious moment. The prize of life being attained here and now, what more could life give?






The only more life can give is life itself. Later in the story nine tenths of the people die; or give up the gold to be sacrificed. Gold does not hep you run. But the passage is true. Money now and then can bring some people fame, fortune and knowledge. But money can not bring you lasting happiness. It sounds weird to people, they think '' if you by a car you will be happy.'' True but not for long. Most of the rich people I talk to say that it leaves you a empty felling after a while.
It left those Spaniards a empty felling. But that might of been because they lost there heart, literally. It would be nice to own a solid gold bar thought.