Casca 10: The Conquistador by Barry Sadler Read Free Book Online Page B

from the shadows at night was most certainly a person without any sense of honor and therefore deserving of his watery fate.
    In the morning, without having any witnesses to call on, Captain Ortiz had to enter into his log that the second mate, Luis Vargas, had been lost overboard some time during the night. He tried to read the expressions of Juan and Casca, who merely smiled and winked at him. Ortiz felt quite uneasy at that and was glad that they would be in the safe port of Havana in only two more days. Then he would be rid of his troublesome cargo. As for Vargas, there was something about the man he would miss, but there had never been a shortage of those with the same qualities. Vargas's position would not be very difficult to fill.
     

CHAPTER FIVE
    In color and design, Havana was much like any town of Spain. Only the tropical winds from the warm seas gave the air a heavy feel that was not of Castile. Near the tavern of the Dos Dracos, two men pushed their way through the early evening crowd of soldiers, sailors, Indian slaves, and mestizo whores. They were going to the inn for a particular purpose. Hernan Cortes was outfitting an expedition to the New World. He was signing on men for that adventure now.
    Casca Longinus, now called Carlos Romano, took his place in line at the doorway to the Dos Dracos, standing behind a sailor with bare feet and calloused broad hands suited for raising a sail or swinging a cutlass. Over the mass of heads, he could see the interior of the tavern. It was crowded with all that was the best and worst of Spain, men of great pride and quick tempers who prided themselves on their piety and fear of God as they did on their ability to lie and kill. Most of those signing the articles were much like him. They brought their own weapons and armor if they had it. There would be no pay, only a share of the loot if there was any. Casca was one of the few who had no real interest in the gold of the Indians nor in their silver and women. Neither did he have the burning desire to save their souls by bringing the cross to replace their heathen idols. His was another purpose, a reason that came from centuries before.
    Juan stood behind his larger friend near the rear rank of the soldiers and sailors gathered to hear Cortes make his speech. The man had a way with words and men; Casca would give him that. But he had a premonition that Cortes was not one who would let much, if anything, stand in the way of his desires. Cortes removed his polished steel helmet as he began, his voice reaching easily over the heads of those assembled on the docks.
    "Certain it is, my friends and companions, that every good man of spirit desires and strives by his own effort to make himself the equal of the excellent men of his day and even those of the past." At this, Casca barely controlled a derisive laugh, not that it would have stopped the words that followed. "And so it is that I am embarking upon a great and beautiful enterprise, one which will be famous in times to come, because I know in my heart that we shall take vast and rich lands, peoples such as have never before been seen, and kingdoms greater than those of our monarchs. Certain it is also that the lust for glory extends beyond this mortal life and that taking a whole world will hardly satisfy it, much less one or two kingdoms.
    "I have assembled ships, arms, horses, and the other materials of war, a great stock of provisions, and everything, else commonly needed and profitable in conquest. I have spent large sums, for which I have put in pawn my own estates and those of my friends. For it seems to me that the less I retain of it, the greater will be my honor. Small things must be given up when great things present themselves. I hope in God that more profit will come to our king and nation from our expedition than from those of all others. I need hardly mention how pleasing it will be to God, our Lord, for love of whom I have willingly offered my toil and my