have observed in fighting these people
that if their leader is killed or captured, they seem to lose their
heads completely. I think that with a dozen men I can get Caonaba and
bring him in. If I do not--the loss will not be very great."

"I should not like to lose you," said the Admiral, with his hand on the
young man's shoulder. "Go, if you will,--but do not sacrifice your own
life if you can help it."

Ojeda had faith in his talisman, and he also believed that if any man
could go into Caonaba's territory and come back alive, he was that man.
He knew that he himself, in the place of the chief, would respect a man
whom he had not been able to beat.

With ten soldiers he rode up into the mountains, his blood leaping with
the wild joy of an adventure as great as any in the Song of the Cid. To
be sure, Caonaba would not in his mountain camp have any such army as
when he surrounded the fort, for then he commanded whole tribes of
allies. In case of coming to blows Ojeda believed that he and his men
with their superior weapons could cut their way out. Still, the odds
were beyond anything that he had ever heard of.

He found the Carib chief, and began by trying diplomacy. He said that
his master, the Guamaquima or chief of the Spaniards, had sent him with
a present. Would he not consent to make a visit to the colony, with a
view of becoming the Admiral's ally and friend? If he would, he should
be presented with the bell of the chapel, the voice of the church, the
wonder of Hispaniola.

Caonaba had heard that bell when he was prowling about the settlement,
and the temptation to become its owner was great. He finally agreed to
accompany Ojeda and his handful of Spaniards back to the coast. But
when they were ready to start, the force of warriors in Caonaba's escort
was out of all proportion to any peaceful embassy. Ojeda turned to his
original plan.

He proposed that Caonaba, after bathing in the stream at the foot of the
mountain, and attiring himself in his finest robe, should put on the
gift the Spanish captain had brought, a pair of metal bracelets, and
return to his followers mounted with Ojeda on his horse. The chief's
eyes glittered as he saw the polished steel of the ornaments Ojeda
produced. He knew that nothing could so impress his wild followers with
his power and greatness as his ability to conquer all fear of the
terrible animals always seen in the vanguard of the white men's army. He
consented to the plan,