"
"Then," observed Sir Walter, with a sigh of disappointment, "we must
change our course and sail for Paris?"
"I am afraid so," said Holmes; "but of course it's by no means certain as
yet. I think if Columbus would go up into the mizzentop and look about
him, he might discover something either in confirmation or refutation of
the theory."
"He couldn't discover anything," put in Pinzon. "He never did."
"Well, I like that!" retorted Columbus. "I'd like to know who discovered
America."
"So should I," observed Leif Ericson, with a wink at Vespucci.
"Tut!" retorted Columbus. "I did it, and the world knows it, whether you
claim it or not."
"Yes, just as Noah discovered Ararat," replied Pinzon. "You sat upon the
deck until we ran plumb into an island, after floating about for three
months, and then you couldn't tell it from a continent, even when you had
it right before your eyes. Noah might just as well have told his family
that he discovered a roof garden as for you to go back to Spain telling
'em all that San Salvador was the United States."
"Well, I don't care," said Columbus, with a short laugh. "I'm the one they
celebrate, so what's the odds? I'd rather stay down here in the
smoking-room enjoying a small game, anyhow, than climb up that mast and
strain my eyes for ten or a dozen hours looking for evidence to prove or
disprove the correctness of another man's theory.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94