e strange fashion, floating
on the western sea, and had picked up one day a small boat which seemed
to be made of the bark of a tree, but of a pattern none had ever seen
before.

Then, and here his voice would sink and his eyes grow large with wonder,
he told Christopher how men who were explorers were certain that
somewhere in that unsailed western sea, just before one came to the
edge, was an island rich in gold and gems and rare, delicious fruits,
where men need never work if they chose to stay there, or if they came
home might bring such treasures with them as would put to shame the
richest princes of all Europe. It was said that there one caught fish
already cooked, and that there people of great beauty lived, with dark
red skins and wearing feathers in their hair.

"And is no one certain of this?" asked Christopher, his eyes wide with
excitement. "Not even the men who have found the African coast and the
isle of Flores?"

The old sailor shook his head. "Nay, nay, boy. The wonderful island lies
so close to the world's edge that 'tis a perilous thing to try to find
it."

"Still," said Christopher, "'twould be well worth the finding, and some
time when I'm a man and can win a ship of my own I'm going to make the
venture."

But the sailor shook his head. "Better leave the unknown sea to itself,
lad," said he. "A whole skin is worth more to a man than all the gold of
King Solomon's mines."

"Is it true," asked the boy after a time, "that there are terrible
monsters in the Dark Sea?" That was the name given in those days to the
ocean that stretched indefinitely to the west. "I've seen pictures of
strange creatures on ships' maps, but never saw the like of any of
them."

"No, nor would you be likely to, lad," said the sailor, "for such as see
those monsters don't come back. But true they are. A great captain told
me once that part of the Dark Sea was black as pitch, and that great
birds flew over it looking for ships. You've heard of the giant Roc that
flies through the air there, so strong that it can pick up the biggest
ship that ever sailed in its beak, and carry it to the clouds? There it
crushes ship and men in its talons, and drops men's limbs, armor,
timber, all that's left, down to the Dark Sea monsters who wait to
devour the wreckage in their huge jaws. Ugh, 'tis an ugly thought, and
enough to keep any man safe this side the world."

"In some places fair, in some dark," mused Christopher. "It would be