"Aye, aye! Have you heard tell of the spouting mountain?"

This night the wind came up and by morning was blowing stiffly, urging
us landward as though back to Spain. The sky became leaden, with a great
stormy aspect. The waves mounted, the lookout cried that the _Pinta_
was showing signals of distress. By now all had shortened sail, but the
Pinta was taking in everything and presently lay under bare poles. The
Santa Maria worked toward her until we were close by. They shouted
and we back to them. It was her rudder that was unshipped and injured.
Captain Martin Pinzon shouted that he would overcome it, binding it
somehow in place, and would overtake us, the _Pinta_ being faster sailer
than the Santa Maria or the Nina. But the Admiral would not agree, and
we took in all sail and lay tossed by a rough sea until afternoon
when the Pinta signaled that the rudder was hung. But by now the sky
stretched straight lead, and the water ran white-capped. We made no way
till morning, when without a drop of rain all the cloud roof was driven
landward and there sprang out a sky so blue that the heart laughed for
joy. The violent wind sank, then veered and blowing moderately carried
us again southward. All the white sails, white and new, were flung out,
and we raced over a rich, green plain. That lasted through most of the
day, but an hour before sunset the _Pinta_ again signaled trouble. The
rudder was once more worse than useless.

Again it was mended. But when the next morning it happened the third
time and a kind of wailing grumble went through the Santa Maria, there
came pronouncement from the Admiral. "The Canaries lie straight ahead.
In two days we shall sight them. Very good! we shall rest there and make
a new rudder for the _Pinta_. The Nina will do better with square sails
and we can change these. Fresh meat and water and some rambling ashore!"

Beltran the cook had been to the Canaries, driven there by a perverse
wind twenty years ago when he was boatswain upon a big carrack. He said
it was no great way and one or two agreed with him, but others declined
to believe the Admiral when he said that in two days we should behold
the volcano. Some were found to clamor that the wind had driven us out
of all reckoning! We might never find the Canaries and then what would
the _Pinta_ do? Whereas, if we all turned back to Palos--

"If--if!" answered Beltran the cook, who at first seemed strangely and
humorously there as cook unti