riegated feathers, intermingled with gold and silk
thread, sprinkled with pearls and precious stones; imitations of
birds and animals in cast and wrought gold and silver, of exquisite
workmanship; curtains, coverlets, and robes of cotton as fine as
silk, of rich and various colors, interwoven with feather work so
finely wrought that it resembled the delicacy of painting.

Roger was astonished at the richness and variety of these goods,
and as he viewed them muttered to himself:

"If I were but back in Plymouth with these, my Cousin Mercy and
Dorothy and Agnes would open their eyes, indeed. I wish to goodness
I had something to send back to the king. One of the cannon from
the Swan, with a supply of ammunition and bullets, would have
astonished him. However, as it is, I suppose that I must make the
best of it."

When the goods were all displayed, Roger addressed the ambassadors,
saying how great was the pleasure that the gifts afforded him. Not,
he said, because he desired gold or jewels or articles of luxury,
but because they were proofs of the goodwill of the king, and of
the mightiness of his power.

"Will you convey my earnest thanks to him for these presents, and
say that I regret deeply that I have come to his country empty
handed, and have naught to send him in return; but that there are
reasons why I could not bring aught with me, from the place far
across the seas from which I came? There are many strange and
wonderful things there. People move across the water in floating
castles as big as your temples. They ride on great animals, which
carry them with the speed of the wind. When they fight they use
weapons which twenty men could not lift, which make a noise like
thunder, and destroy their foes at two or three miles' distance.
But I was not permitted to bring, at present, any of these wonders
from the far-distant country. I wanted to come myself, and I have
come; but as I have said, I had to come alone and empty handed. In
time these wonderful things will be brought to your shores, but the
time has not come yet."

The nobles listened with respectful attention. It seemed to them
probable enough that a supernatural personage might convoy himself
vast distances through the air, but that he could not burden
himself with mortal appliances--if, indeed, such things were the
work of merely mortal men.

"I could bring with me," Roger went on, "but one small specimen of
the metal most used in that distant countr