Who once has known that crystal spring
Shall not lose heart for anything.
The blessing of a faery wife
Is love to sweeten all your life.
To find the truth whatever it be--
That is the luck of Faerie!
_Above the gates of Faerie
There bends a wild witch-hazel tree.
The fairies know its elfin powers.
They wove a garland of the flowers,
And on a misty autumn day
They crowned their queen--and ran away!
And by that gift they made you free
Of all the roads of Faerie!_
CONTENTS
PAGE
_To Foresta_ v
I
ASGARD THE BEAUTIFUL (1348) 1
_The Viking's Secret_ 17
II
THE RUNES OF THE WIND-WIFE (1364) 18
_The Navigators_ (1415-1460) 34
III
SEA OF DARKNESS (1475) 35
_Sunset Song_ 48
IV
PEDRO AND HIS ADMIRAL (1492) 50
_The Queen's Prayer_ 65
V
THE MAN WHO COULD NOT DIE (1493-1494) 66
_The Escape_ 80
VI
LOCKED HARBORS (1497) 81
_Gray Sails_ 93
VII
LITTLE VENICE (1500) 94
_The Gold Road_ 104
VIII
THE DOG WITH TWO MASTERS (1512) 105
_Cold o' the Moon_ (1519) 117
IX
WAMPUM TOWN (1508-1524) 121
_The Drum_ 133
X
THE GODS OF TAXMAR (1512-1519) 134
_The Legend of Malinche_ 148
XI
THE THUNDER BIRDS (1519-1520) 150
_Moccasin Flower_ 165
XII
GIFTS FROM NORUMBEGA (1533-1535) 167
_The Mustangs_ 181
XIII
THE WHITE MEDICINE MAN (1528-1536) 182
_Lone Bayou_ (1542) 195
XIV
THE FACE OF THE TERROR (1564) 197
_The Destroyers_ 214
XV
THE FLEECE OF GOLD (1561-1577) 215
_A Watch-dog of England_ (1583) 237
XVI
LORDS OF ROANOKE (1584) 238
_The Changelings_ 250
XVII
THE GARDENS OF HELENE (1607-1609) 252
_The Wooden Shoe_ 269
XVIII
THE FIRES THAT TALKED (1610) 270
_Imperialism_ 282
XIX
ADMIRAL OF NEW ENGLAND (1600-1614) 284
_The Discoverers_ 299
BIBLIOGRAPHY 300
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"'I will tell you where there is plenty of it'" (in color)
_Frontispiece_
FACING
PAGE
"'And Freya came from Asgard in her chariot drawn by
two cats'" (in color) 4
"Nils marked out an inscription in Runic letters" 30
"The miniature globe took form as the children watched,
fascinated" 44
"He proposed that Caonaba should put on the gift the
Spanish captain had brought" 78
"A sapling, bent down, was attached to a noose ingeniously
hidden" 86
"The natives seemed prepared to traffic in all peace and
friendliness" (in color) 132
"Cortes flung about his shoulders his own cloak" 146
"Moteczuma awaited them in the courtyard" (in color) 162
"Cartier read from his service-book" 176
"The creatures darkened the plain almost as far as the eye
could see" 190
"'Gentlemen, whence does this fleet come?'" 204
"Drake was silent, fingering the slender Milanese poniard" 226
"If he had to wear her fetters, they should at least be
golden" 244
"The Grand Master of the day entered the dining hall" 266
DAYS OF THE DISCOVERERS
I
ASGARD THE BEAUTIFUL
A red fox ran into the empty church.
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