"
"I think," said Armadas as he took from his wallet a bracelet of Indian
shell-work hung with baroque pearls, "that all our fine plans would ha'
come to naught but for thy wise head, young 'un. These be pearls from
the Virginias, and if you find 'em scorched, that's only because the
heathen know no other way of opening the oyster-shell but by fire. The
beads are such as they use for money and call roanoke. The gold of the
Spanish mines can buy men maybe, but it does not buy such loyalty as
thine, that's sure. I have no gold to give, lad,--but wear this for a
love-token. And I think that could the truth be known, the Queen herself
would freely name thee Lord of Roanoke."
NOTES
[1] The name is variously spelled Armadas, Amidas and Amadas. The form
here used is that of the earliest records. The same is true of the
spelling "Ralegh."
[2] Companies of children under various names were often employed in the
acting of plays in the time of Elizabeth. These are the "troops of
children, little eyasses" alluded to by Shakespeare in "Hamlet." They
sometimes acted in plays written for them by Lyly and others, and
sometimes in the popular dramas of the day. Ben Jonson wrote a charming
epitaph on Salathiel Pavy, one of these little actors, who died at
thirteen.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301