THE
C O M P A N I O N S OF C O L U M B U S .
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When Ojeda figured in San Domingo as the conqueror of Caonabo, as the commander of a squadron, as the governor of a province, his prowess and exploits were the theme of every tongue.
When he set sail, in vaunting style, for his seat of go
vernment, setting the viceroy at defiance, and threatening the life of Esquibel, every one thought that fortune was at his beck, and he was about to accomplish wonders.
A few months had elapsed,
and he walked the streets of San Domingo a needy man, ship wrecked in hope and fortune.
His former friends, dreading some
new demand upon their purses, looked coldly on him ; his schemes, once so extolled, were now pronounced wild and chimerical, and he was subjected to all kinds of slights and humiliations in the very place which had been the scene of his greatest vainglory. While Ojeda was thus lingering at San Domingo, the admiral, Don Diego Columbus, sent a party of soldiers to Jamaica to ar rest Talavera and his pirate crew.
They were brought in chains
to San Domingo, thrown into dungeons, and tried for the robbery of the Genoese vessel.
Their crime was too notorious to admit
of doubt, and being convicted, Talavera and several of his prin cipal accomplices were hanged.
Such was the end of their fright
ful journey by sea and land.
Never had vagabonds traveled
farther nor toiled harder to arrive at a gallows ! In the course of the trial Ojeda had naturally been summoned as a witness, and his testimony must have tended greatly to the conviction of the culprits.
This drew upon him the vengeance
of the surviving comrades of Talavera, who still lurked about San Domingo.
As he was returning home one night at a late
hour, he was waylaid and set upon by a number of these miscre ants.
He displayed his usual spirit.
Setting his back against a
wall, and drawing his sword, he defended himself admirably
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