"Ho!" cried Alonso de Ojeda.

"Here is the cradle for the babe! Round tower, walls, barbican yonder, and Mother Nature has dug the moat!" He sent his voice across to the Viceroy.

"A fort, senor, a fort!" Council was held by the Yanique.

A fort,--a luckier than La Navidad! Men left here to collect gold, establish a road, keep communication with Isabella which in turn should forward supplies and men.

The returning fleet might bring two thousand--nay, five thousand men! It would certainly bring asses and mules as well as horses.