"
La Caille returned; and Ribaut, with eight gentlemen, soon came over in
the canoe. Menendez met them courteously, caused wine and preserved
fruits to be placed before them,--he had come well provisioned on his
errand of blood,--and next led Ribaut to the reeking Golgotha, where,
in heaps upon the sand, lay the corpses of his slaughtered followers.
Ribaut was prepared for the spectacle,--La Caille had already seen it,
--but he would not believe that Fort Caroline was taken till a part of
the plunder was shown him. Then, mastering his despair, he turned to the
conqueror. "What has befallen us," he said, "may one day befall you."
And, urging that the kings of France and Spain were brothers and close
friends, he begged, in the name of that friendship, that the Spaniard
would aid him in conveying his followers home. Menendez gave him the
same equivocal answer that he had given the former party, and Ribaut
returned to consult with his officers. After three hours of absence, he
came back in the canoe, and told the Adelantado that some of his people
were ready to surrender at discretion, but that many refused.
"They can do as they please," was the reply. In behalf of those who
surrendered, Ribaut offered a ransom of a hundred thousand ducats.
"It would much grieve me," said Menendez, "not to accept it; for I have
great need of it.
Pages:
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160