He now pulled from the breast of his doublet a packet, which he proffered the Governor. “From the King, sir,” he announced, in the half-fierce, half — mocking tone he had made his own. “You may read it at your leisure. He wishes you to further me in a quest upon which I have come.”

The Governor took the packet with reverence. “His Majesty’s will is our law,” he said. “Anything that lies in our power, sir; though if you come for gold” —

The favorite laughed again. “I’ve come for a thing a deal more precious, Sir Governor, — a thing worth more to me than all the treasure of the Indies with Manoa and El Dorado thrown in, — to wit, the thing upon which I’ve set my mind. That which I determine to